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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 44261 ***
+
+Transcriber's note:
+
+Inconsistency in hyphenation and spelling is as in the original.
+
+In this etext a 'breve' is represented with:-
+
+a - [)a]
+
+i - [)i]
+
+o - [)o]
+
+u - [)u]
+
+Chapter Sidenotes are placed at head of chapter.
+
+Inline Sidenotes are placed as close as possible, and marked [sn: (2 v.)]
+
+....
+
+
+[Illustration: frontispeiece]
+
+
+
+
+                               HISTORY
+                                  OF
+                             THE PIRATES
+
+                                 WHO
+                       INFESTED THE CHINA SEA,
+
+                          FROM 1807 TO 1810.
+
+                TRANSLATED FROM THE CHINESE ORIGINAL,
+                                 WITH
+                       NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS,
+
+                                  BY
+                       CHARLES FRIED. NEUMANN.
+
+
+                               LONDON:
+
+              PRINTED FOR THE ORIENTAL TRANSLATION FUND,
+                             And Sold by
+                     J. MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET;
+              PARBURY, ALLEN, & CO., LEADENHALL STREET;
+          THACKER & CO., CALCUTTA; TREUTTEL & WÜRTZ, PARIS;
+                      AND E. FLEISCHER, LEIPSIG.
+
+
+                                1831.
+
+
+
+
+                                LONDON
+              Printed by J. L. Cox, Great Queen Street,
+                         Lincoln's-Inn Fields
+
+
+
+
+                        TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE.
+
+
+Conquerors are deemed successful robbers, while robbers are
+unsuccessful conquerors. If the founder of the dynasty of the Ming had
+failed in his rebellion against the Moguls, history would have called
+him a robber; and if any one of the various robber-chiefs, who in the
+course of the two last centuries made war against the reigning
+Manchow, had overthrown the government of the foreigners, the official
+historiographers of the "_Middle empire_" would have called him _the
+far-famed, illustrious elder father_ of the new dynasty.
+
+Robbers or pirates are usually ignorant of the principles concerning
+human society. They are not aware that power is derived from the
+people for the general advantage, and that when it is abused to a
+certain extent, all means of redress resorted to are legitimate. But
+they feel most violently the abuse of power. The fruit of labour is
+too often taken out of their hands, justice sold for money, and
+nothing is safe from their rapacious and luxurious masters. People
+arise to oppose, and act according to the philosophical principles of
+human society, without having any clear idea about them. Robbers and
+pirates are, in fact, the opposition party in the despotical empires
+of the East; and their history is far more interesting than that of
+the reigning despot.[1] The sameness which is to be observed in the
+history of all Asiatic governments, presents a great difficulty to any
+historian who wishes to write a history of any nation in Asia for the
+general reader.
+
+The history of the transactions between Europeans and the Chinese is
+intimately connected with that of the pirate chiefs who appeared from
+time to time in the Chinese Sea, or Southern Ocean. The Europeans
+themselves, at their first appearance in the _middle empire_, only
+became known as pirates. Simon de Andrada, the first Portuguese who
+(1521) tried to establish any regular trade with China, committed
+violence against the merchants, and bought young Chinese to use them
+as slaves; and it is known that it was the policy of the _civilized
+foreigners_ from the "Great Western Ocean" (which is the Chinese name
+for Europe) to decry their competitors in trade as pirates and
+outlaws.
+
+The footing which Europeans and Americans now enjoy in China,
+originated from the assistance given by the Portuguese to the Manchow
+against the Patriots, otherwise called pirates, who would not submit
+to the sway of foreigners. Macao, the only residence (or large prison)
+in which foreigners are shut up, is not considered by the Chinese
+Government as belonging exclusively to the Portuguese. The Dutch, on
+not being allowed to remain in Macao, complained to the Chinese
+Government, and the authorities of the middle empire commanded the
+Portuguese to grant houses to the newly arrived _Holan_ or Hollander,
+"since Macao was to be considered as the abode of _all_ foreigners
+trading with China." The edicts concerning this transaction are stated
+to be now in the archives of the Dutch factory at Macao.
+
+It is one of the most interesting facts in the history of the Chinese
+empire, that the various barbarous tribes, who subdued either the
+whole or a part of this singular country, were themselves ultimately
+subdued by the peculiar civilization of their subjects. The Kitans,
+Moguls, and Manchow, became, in the course of time, Chinese people;
+like the Ostro, and Visigoths, and Longobards--Romans. But we may
+remark, that both the Chinese and the Roman civilization under the
+Emperors recommended itself to the conquerors, as connected with a
+despotism which particularly suited the views of the conquerors.
+Though this large division of the human race, which we are accustomed
+to call _Tatars_, never felt a spark of that liberty which everywhere
+animated the various German nations and tribes, and the Khakhans, in
+consequence of this, were not in need of any foreign policy to enslave
+their compatriots; yet it may be said, that neither Moguls nor Manchow
+were able to establish a despotic form of government which worked so
+well for a large nation as that of the Chinese.
+
+The extremes of both despotism and democracy acknowledge no
+intermediary power or rank. The sovereign is the vice-regent of
+heaven, and all in all; he is the only rule of right and wrong, and
+commands both what shall be done in this world and thought of
+concerning the next. It may be easily imagined, that the Jesuits, on
+their first arrival in China, were delighted with such a perfect
+specimen of government according to their political sentiments. They
+tried all that human power could command to succeed in the conversion
+of this worldly paradise. The fathers disguised themselves as
+astronomers, watchmakers, painters, musicians, and engineers.[2] They
+forged inscriptions[3] and invented miracles, and almost went to the
+extent of canonizing Confucius. But this cunning deference to Chinese
+customs involved the Jesuits in a dispute with their more pious but
+less prudent competitors; and notwithstanding all the cleverness of
+the Jesuits, the Chinese saw at last, that in becoming Roman Catholic
+Christians they must cease to be Chinese, and obey a foreign sovereign
+in the _Great Western Ocean_. Toland affirms, that the Chinese and the
+Irish, in the time of their heathen monarch Laogirius, were the only
+nations in which religious persecutions never existed;[4] this praise
+now refers exclusively to Ireland. Roman Catholicism is at this moment
+nearly extinguished in China. To become a Christian is considered
+high-treason, and the only Roman Catholic priest at Canton at the
+present time, is compelled to hide himself under the mask of
+shopkeeper. In their successful times, during the seventeenth century,
+the Roman Catholic Missionaries published in Europe, that no nation
+was more virtuous, nor any government more enlightened than that of
+the Chinese; these false eulogies were the source of that high opinion
+in which the Chinese were formerly held in Europe.
+
+The merchants and adventurers who came to China "to make money" found
+both the government and people widely different from descriptions
+given by the Jesuits. They found that the Chinese officers of
+government, commonly called Mandarins, would think themselves defiled
+by the least intercourse with foreigners, particularly merchants; and
+that the laws are often interpreted quite differently before and after
+receiving bribes. The Europeans were proud of their civilization and
+cleverness in mercantile transactions, and considered the inhabitants
+of all the other parts of the world as barbarians; but they found, to
+their astonishment and disappointment, the Chinese still more proud
+and cunning. We may easily presume that these deluded merchants became
+very irritated, and in their anger they reported to their countrymen
+in Europe that the Chinese were the most treacherous and abandoned
+people in the world,[5] that "they were only a peculiar race of
+savages," and required to be chastised in one way or another; which
+would certainly be very easy. Commodore Anson, with a single
+weather-beaten sixty-gun ship, in fact, set the whole power of the
+Chinese Government at defiance.
+
+The Translator of the History of the Pirates ventures to affirm, that
+the Chinese system of government is by far the best that ever existed
+in Asia; not excepting any of the different monarchies founded by the
+followers of Alexander, the government of the Roman Prætors and of
+Byzantine Dukes, or that of Christian Kings and Barons who reigned in
+various parts of the East during the middle ages. The principles of
+Chinese government are those of virtue and justice; but they are
+greatly corrupted by the passions and vices of men. The greater part
+of their laws are good and just, though the practice is often bad; but
+unfortunately this is generally not known to the "Son of Heaven." It
+is the interest of the Emperor to deal out justice to the lowest of
+his subjects; but, supposing it were possible that one man could
+manage the government of such an immense empire, who either could or
+would dare to denounce every vicious or unjust act of the officers
+employed by government? The Chinese themselves are a clever shrewd
+sort of people; deceit and falsehood are, perhaps, more generally
+found in the "flowery empire" than any where else; but take them all
+in all, they rank high in the scale of nations, and the generality of
+the people seem to be quite satisfied with their government; they may
+wish for a change of masters, but certainly not for an entire change
+of the system of government.
+
+There has existed for a long period, and still exists, a powerful
+party in the Chinese Empire, which is against the dominion of the
+Manchow; the different mountainous tribes maintain, even now, in the
+interior of China, a certain independence of the Tay tsing dynasty.
+The Meao tsze, who were in Canton some years ago, stated, with a
+proud feeling, that they were _Ming jin_, people of Ming; the title
+of the native sovereigns of China before the conquest of the Manchow.
+It is said, that the whole disaffected party is united in a
+society--generally called the _Triade-Union_--and that they aimed at
+the overthrow of the Tatars, particularly under the weak government of
+the late Emperor; but the rebels totally failed in their object both
+by sea and land.
+
+It has been falsely reported in Europe, that it is not allowed by the
+laws of China to publish the transactions of the reigning dynasty. It
+is true that the history written by the official or imperial
+historians is not published; but there is no statute which prohibits
+other persons from writing the occurrences of their times. It may be
+easily imagined that such authors will take especial care not to
+state any thing which may be offensive to persons in power. There is,
+however, no official court in China to regulate the course of the
+human understanding, there is nothing like that tribunal which in the
+greater part of the Continent of Europe is called the _Censorship_.
+Fear alone is quite sufficient to check the rising spirits of the
+liberals in the middle empire. The reader, therefore, should not
+expect that either the author of the "History of the Rebellions in the
+Interior of China," or the writer of the "Pacification of the
+Pirates," would presume to state that persons whom government is
+pleased to style robbers and pirates, are in reality enemies of the
+present dynasty; neither would they state that government, not being
+able to quell these rebellions, are compelled to give large
+recompenses to the different chiefs who submit. These facts are
+scarcely hinted at in the Chinese histories. The government officers
+are usually delineated as the most excellent men in the world. When
+they run away, they know before-hand that fighting will avail nothing;
+and when they pardon, they are not said to be compelled by necessity,
+but it is described as an act of heavenly virtue! From what we learn
+by the statements of a Chinese executioner, we should be led to form a
+bad opinion of the veracity of these historians, and the heavenly
+virtue of their government; for it is said, that one Chinese
+executioner beheaded a thousand pirates in one year.[6]
+
+The author of the following work is a certain _Yung lun yuen_, called
+_Jang sëen_,[7] a native of the city or market town _Shun tih_, eighty
+le southerly from Canton. The great number of proper names, of
+persons and places, to be found in the "_History of the Pacification
+of the Pirates_," together with the nicknames and thieves' slang
+employed by the followers of Ching y[)i]h, presented peculiar
+difficulties in the translation of _Yuen's_ publication. The work was
+published in November 1830 at Canton; and it is to be regretted, for
+the fame of the author in the _Great Western Ocean_, that he used
+provincial and abbreviated characters. I will not complain that by so
+doing he caused many difficulties to his translator, for a native of
+_Shun tih_ would not trouble himself on that point; but I have reason
+to believe that the head schoolmaster of Kwang tung will think it an
+abomination that Yung lun yuen should dare take such liberties in a
+historical composition. Schoolmasters have a greater sway in China
+than any where else, and they like not to be trifled with. These are
+particularly the men, who, above all others, oppose any innovation or
+reform; scholars, who presume to know every thing between heaven and
+earth: and they may certainly satisfy every man, who will rest
+satisfied by mere words. These learned gentlemen are too much occupied
+with their own philosophical and literary disquisitions, to have any
+time, or to think it worth their notice, to pay attention to
+surrounding empires or nations. If we consider the scanty and foolish
+notices which are found in recent Chinese publications regarding those
+nations with which the Chinese should be well acquainted, we cannot
+but form a very low estimate of the present state of Chinese
+literature. How far otherwise are the accounts of foreign nations,
+which are to be found in the great work of Matuanlin! It will,
+perhaps, be interesting to the European reader to learn, what the
+Chinese know and report concerning the nations of _Ta se yang_, or the
+_Great Western Ocean_. I therefore take an opportunity here to give
+some extracts from a Chinese publication relative to European nations,
+printed last year at Canton.
+
+The _fifty-seventh book_ of the _Memoirs concerning the South of the
+Mei ling Mountains_, contains a history of all the Southern barbarians
+(or foreigners); and here are mentioned--with the _Tanka_ people and
+other barbarous tribes of Kwang tung and Kwang se--the _Siamese_, the
+_Mahometans_, the _French_, _Dutch_, _English_, _Portuguese_,
+_Austrians_, _Prussians_, and _Americans_. The work was published by
+the command of Yuen, the ex-Governor-General of Canton, who is
+considered one of the principal living literary characters of China,
+and it consists chiefly of extracts from the voluminous history of
+the province Kwang tung, published by his Excellency:--
+
+            _The Religion of the Hwy hwy, or Mahometans._
+
+     "This religion is professed by various sorts of barbarians who
+     live southerly beyond _Chen ching_ (Tséamba, or Zeampa), to the
+     _Se yu_. Their doctrines originated in the kingdom of _Me tih
+     no_ (Medina). They say that heaven is the origin of all things;
+     they do not use any images. Their country is close to Tëen choo
+     (India); their customs are quite different from those of the
+     Buddhists; they kill living creatures, but they do not eat
+     indiscriminately all that is killed; they eat not hog's flesh,
+     and this is the essence of the doctrine of Hwy hwy. They have
+     now a foreign pagoda (_fan t[)a]_), near the temple of the
+     compassionate saint (in Canton), which exists since the time of
+     the Tang. It is of a spiral form, and 163 cubits high.[8] They
+     go every day therein to say prayers."
+
+By the kindness of Dr. Morrison, the translator had the pleasure to
+converse with a member of the Mahometan clergy at Canton. He stated,
+that in the Mosque at Canton is a tablet, whereon it is written, that
+the religion of the Prophet of Mecca was brought to China, _Tang ching
+yuen san nëen_, that is, in the third year of the period called _Ching
+yuen_, under the Tang dynasty, _i.e._ 787 of our era.[9] The compilers
+of the _Memoirs_, &c. have taken their extract from the historical
+work of _Ho_ (4051, M.); they seem not to have any knowledge of
+Matuanlin, where the Arabs are spoken of under the name of _Ta she_.
+See the notes to my translation of the Chronicle of Vahram, p. 76.
+During the time the translator was at Canton, there arrived a pilgrim
+from Pekin on his way to Mecca.
+
+                _The Fa lan se, Francs and Frenchmen._
+
+     "The _Fa lan se_ are also called _Fo lang se_, and now _Fo lang
+     ke_. In the beginning they adopted the religion of Buddha, but
+     afterwards they received the religion of the _Lord of Heaven_.
+     They are assembled together and stay in _Leu song_ (Spain?);
+     they strive now very hard with the _Hung maou or red-haired
+     people_ (the _Dutch_), and the _Ying keih le_ (_English_); but
+     the _Fa lan se_ have rather the worst of it. These foreigners,
+     or barbarians (_e jin_) wear white caps and black woollen hats;
+     they salute one another by taking off the hat. Regarding their
+     garments and eating and drinking, they have the same customs as
+     the people of Great _Leu song_ and Small _Leu song_ (_Spain_
+     and _Manilla_)."
+
+This extract is taken from the _Hwang tsing ch[)i]h kung too_, or the
+_Register of the Tribute as recorded under the present dynasty_
+(_Memoirs_, l. c. p. 10 v., p. 11 r.). I am not sure if _Ke tsew_
+(10,869) _keu_ (6,063) _Leu song_, can really be translated by the
+words--_they are assembled together and stay in Leu song_. The use of
+_tsew_ in the place of _tseu_ (10,826) is confirmed by the authorities
+in Kang he; but does Leu song really mean Spain? The Philippinas are
+called Leu song (Luzon), from the island whereon Manilla is, and in
+opposition to Spain (_Ta Leu song, the great L. s._), _Seao Leu song_,
+_the small Leu song_. It may be doubted whether _Leu song_ without
+_Ta_, _great_, can be taken for Spain. The Chinese have moreover
+learned from Matthæus Ricci the proper name of Spain, and write it
+_She pan ya_. The Dutch, the English, and the Germans, are, from a
+reddish colour of their hair, called _Hung maou_. This peculiar colour
+of the hair found among people of German origin, is often spoken of by
+the ancient Roman authors; as for instance in Tacitus, Germania, c.
+4. Juvenal says, Sat. XIII. v. 164,
+
+    Cærula quis stupuit Germani lumina? _flavam
+    Cæsariem_, et madido torquentem cornua cirro?
+
+It would carry us too far at present to translate the statements of
+the Chinese concerning the Portuguese and Dutch. Under the head of _Se
+yang_, or Portugal, may be read an extract of the account of Europe
+(Gow lo pa) the Chinese received by Paulus Matthæus Ricci (_Le ma
+paou_). The Chinese know that the European Universities are divided
+into four faculties; and his Excellency Yuen is aware of the great
+similarity between the ceremonies of the Buddhists and those of the
+Roman Catholic church (l. c. 17 v). The present Translator of the
+"History of the Pirates" intends to translate the whole of the 57th
+book of the often-quoted Memoirs, and to subjoin copious extracts of
+other works, particularly from the _Hae kw[)o] hëen këen l[)u]h_, or
+"Memoirs concerning the Empires surrounded by the Ocean." This very
+interesting small work is divided into two books; one containing the
+text, and the other the maps. The text consists of eight chapters,
+including a description of the sea-coast of China, with a map,
+constructed on a large scale, of the nations to the east, the
+south-east, and the south; then follows a topography of Portugal and
+Europe generally. Concerning England we find:--
+
+            _The Kingdom of the Ying keih le, or English._
+
+     "The kingdom of the _Ying keih le_ is a dependent or tributary
+     state[10] to _Ho lan_ (Holland). Their garments and manners in
+     eating and drinking are the same. This kingdom is rather rich.
+     The males use much cloth and like to drink wine. The females,
+     before marriage, bind the waist, being desirous to look
+     slender; their hair hangs in curls over the neck; they use a
+     short garment and petticoats, but dress in a larger cloth when
+     they go out. They take snuff out of boxes made from gold and
+     threads."
+
+This extract is taken from the "_Register of the Tribute as recorded
+under the present dynasty_."
+
+     "_Ying keih le_ is a kingdom composed of three islands: it is
+     in the middle of four kingdoms, called _Lin yin_:[11] _Hwang
+     ke_, the _yellow flag_ (Denmark), _Ho lan_, and _Fo lang se_.
+     The _Great Western Ocean_ (Europe) worships the Lord of Heaven;
+     and there are, firstly, _She pan ya_ (Spain), _Poo ke[)u]h ya_
+     (Portugal), the _yellow flag_, &c.; but there are too many
+     kingdoms to nominate them one by one. Ying keih le is a kingdom
+     which produces silver, woollen cloths,[12] camlets, _peih ke_,
+     or English cloth, called long ells,[13] glass, and other things
+     of this kind."
+
+This extract is taken from the _Hae kw[)o] hëen këen l[)u]h_, book i.
+p. 34 v. 35 r; and I am sorry to see that in the "Memoirs" it is
+abbreviated in such a manner that the sense is materially changed.
+
+     "_Ying keih le_," says the author of the _Hae kwo hëen këen
+     l[)u]h_ (l. c.), "is a realm composed out of three islands. To
+     the west and the north of the four kingdoms of _Lin yin_, the
+     _Yellow flag_, _Holan_, and _Fo lang se_, is the ocean. From
+     Lin yin the ocean takes its direction to the east, and
+     surrounds _Go lo sse_ (Russia); and from Go lo sse, yet more to
+     the east, _Se me le_ (Siberia?). Through the northern sea you
+     cannot sail; the sea is frozen, and does not thaw, and for this
+     reason it is called the _Frozen Ocean_. From Lin yin, to the
+     south, are the various empires of the _Woo_ and _Kwei_ (_Crows_
+     and _Demons_), and they all belong to _the red-haired people_
+     of the _Great Western Ocean_. On the west and on the north
+     there are different barbarians under various names;
+
+                  *       *       *       *       *
+
+     but they are, in one word, similar to the Go lo sse (Russians),
+     who stay in the metropolis (Pekin). It is said that the _Kaou
+     chun peih mow_ (?) are similar to the inhabitants of the
+     _Middle Empire_; they are of a vigorous body and an ingenious
+     mind. All that they produce is fine and strong; their
+     attention is directed to making fire-arms. They make researches
+     in astronomy and geography, and generally they do not marry.
+     Every kingdom has a particular language, and they greet one
+     another by taking off the hat. They worship," &c. (The same as
+     p. xxx.)
+
+My copy of the _Hae kw[)o] hëen këen l[)u]h_ was printed in the
+province _Che keang_, in the year 1794.
+
+     "In the narrative regarding foreign countries, and forming part
+     of the history of the Ming, the English are called _Yen go le_;
+     in the _Hae kw[)o] hëen këen l[)u]h_, Ying ke le (5272, 6950);
+     but in the maps the name is now always written _Ying keih le_
+     (5018, 6947). In expressing the sound of words we sometimes use
+     different characters. This kingdom lies to the west of _Gow lo
+     pa_ (Europa), and was originally a tributary state to Ho lan
+     (Holland); but in the course of time it became richer and more
+     powerful than _Ho lan_, and revolted. These kingdoms are,
+     therefore, enemies. It is not known at what time the Ying keih
+     le grasped the country of North _O m[)o] le kea_ (America),
+     which is called _Kea no_ (Canada). Great _Ying keih le_ is a
+     kingdom of Gow lo pa (Europe.)[14] In the twelfth year of _Yung
+     ching_ (1735), they came the first time to Canton for trade.
+     Their country produces wheat, with which they trade to all the
+     neighboring countries. They are generally called _Keang he[)o]_
+     (that is, English ships from India, or country ships), and
+     there arrive many vessels."
+
+This extract is taken from the _Tan chay hëen këen l[)u]h_, and it is
+all that we find regarding England in the Memoirs concerning the south
+of the Mei ling Mountains (p. 18 r. v.). In the latter extract, the
+author appears to confound the country trade of India and China with
+that of the mother country. England is again mentioned in the notice
+regarding Me le keih (America), taken out of Yuen's History of Canton.
+It is there said, that the Me le keih passed, in the 52d year of Këen
+lung (1788), the Bocca Tigris, and that they then separated from the
+Ying keih le (p. 19 r.) At the end of the extract concerning the
+Americans (p. 190) we read the following words:
+
+     "The characters which are used in the writings of these realms
+     are, according to the statements of _Ma lo ko_, _twenty-six_;
+     all sounds can be sufficiently expressed by these characters.
+     Every realm has large and small characters; they are called _La
+     ting_ characters, and _La te na_ (Latin) characters."
+
+It is pleasing to observe that his Excellency Yuen had some knowledge
+of Dr. Morrison's Dictionary. In the third part of his Dictionary, Dr.
+Morrison has given, in Chinese, a short and clear notice concerning
+the European alphabet. Yuen seems to have taken his statements from
+this notice, and to have written the name of the author, by a mistake,
+_Ma lo ko_, for _Ma le so_, as Dr. Morrison is generally called by the
+Chinese.
+                 _The Man ying, the Double Eagle, or
+                             Austrians._
+
+     "The _Man ying_ passed the Bocca Tigris the first time in the
+     45th year of Këen lung (1781), and are called _Ta chen_
+     (_Teutchen_). They have accepted the religion of the Lord of
+     Heaven. In customs and manners they are similar to the Se yang,
+     or Portuguese; they are the brethren of the Tan ying, or
+     _Single eagle kingdom_ (Prussia); in difficulties and distress
+     they help one another. Their ships which came to Canton had a
+     white flag, on which an eagle was painted with two heads."
+
+This extract is taken from the History of _Yuen_. I take the liberty
+to observe, that the Chinese scholar must be careful not to take the
+_Sui chen_, or _Chen kw[)o]_ (the Swedes), for the _Ta chen_ (the
+_Teutchen_). In the _Memoirs_, l. c. p. 19 v., we read the following
+notice on the _Chen kw[)o]_ (the Swedes):
+
+     "The _Chen_ realm is also called _Tan_ (Denmark) realm, and now
+     the _yellow flag_. This country is opposite to that of the _Ho
+     lan_, and a little farther off from the sea. There are two
+     realms called _Sui chen_, and they border both on the _Go lo
+     sse_, or Russia. They passed the Bocca Tigris the first year of
+     Këen lung (1765)."
+
+            _The Tan ying, the Single Eagle or Prussians._
+
+     "The Tan ying passed the Bocca Tigris the 52d year of Këen lung
+     (1788.) They live to the west and north of the Man ying
+     (Austrians). In customs and manners they are similar to them.
+     On their ships flies a white flag, on which an eagle is
+     painted."
+
+This last extract is also taken from the History of Canton, published
+by his Excellency Yuen.
+
+If we consider how easily the Chinese could procure information
+regarding foreign countries during the course of the two last
+centuries, and then see how shamefully they let pass all such
+opportunities to inform and improve themselves, we can only look upon
+these proud slaves of hereditary customs with the utmost disgust and
+contempt. The ancient Britons and Germans had no books; yet what
+perfect descriptions of those barbarian nations have been handed down
+to us by the immortal genius of Tacitus! Montesquieu says, that "in
+Cæsar and Tacitus we read the code of barbarian laws; and in the code
+we read Cæsar and Tacitus." In the statement of the modern Chinese
+regarding foreign nations, we see, on the contrary, both the want of
+enquiry, and the childish remarks of unenlightened and uncultivated
+minds.[15]
+
+
+
+
+                       YING HING SOO's PREFACE.
+
+
+In the summer of the year _Ke sze_ (1809),[16] I returned from the
+capital, and having passed the chain of mountains,[17] I learned the
+extraordinary disturbances caused by the _Pirates_. When I came home I
+saw with mine own eyes all the calamities; four villages were totally
+destroyed; the inhabitants collected together and made preparations
+for resistance. Fighting at last ceased on seas and rivers: families
+and villages rejoiced, and peace was every where restored. Hearing of
+our naval transactions, every man desired to have them written down in
+a history; but people have, until this day, looked in vain for such a
+work.
+
+Meeting once, at a public inn in Whampo,[18] with one _Yuen tsze_, we
+conversed together, when he took a volume in his hand, and asked me to
+read it. On opening the work, I saw that it contained a _History of
+the Pirates_; and reading it to the end, I found that the occurrences
+of those times were therein recorded from day to day, and that our
+naval transactions are there faithfully reported. Yuen tsze supplied
+the defect I stated before, and anticipated what had occupied my mind
+for a long time. The affairs concerning the robber _Lin_ are described
+by the non-official historian _Lan e_, in his _Tsing y[)i]h ke_, viz.
+in the _History of the Pacification of the Robbers_.[19] Respectfully
+looking to the commands of heaven, _Lan e_ made known, for all future
+times, the faithful and devoted servants of government. Yuen tsze's
+work is a supplement to the History of the Pacification of the
+Robbers, and you may rely on whatever therein is reported, whether it
+be of great or little consequence. Yuen tsze has overlooked nothing;
+and I dare to say, that all people will rejoice at the publication.
+Having written these introductory lines to the said work, I returned
+it to Yuen tsze.[20]
+
+Written at the time of the fifth summer moon, the tenth year of Tao
+kwang, called K[)a]ng yin (September 1830).
+
+A respectful Preface of _Ying hing Soo_, from _Peih keang_.
+
+
+
+
+                     KING CHUNG HO's[21] PREFACE.
+
+
+My house being near the sea, we were, during the year _Ke sze_ of Këa
+king (1809), disturbed by the Pirates. The whole coast adjoining to
+our town was in confusion, and the inhabitants dispersed; this lasting
+for a long time, every man felt annoyed at it. In the year _K[)a]ng
+yin_ (1830) I met with _Yuen tsze yung lun_ at a public inn within the
+walls of the provincial metropolis (Canton). He showed me his
+_History of the Pacification of the Pirates_, and asked me to write a
+Preface to the work; having been a schoolfellow of his in my tender
+age, I could not refuse his request. Opening and reading the volume, I
+was moved with recollections of occurrences in former days, and I was
+pleased with the diligence and industry of _Yuen keun_[22] The author
+was so careful to combine what he had seen and heard, that I venture
+to say it is an historical work on which you may rely.
+
+We have the collections of former historians, who in a fine style
+described things as they happened, that by such faithful accounts the
+world might be governed, and the minds of men enlightened. People may
+learn by these vast collections[23] what should be done, and what not.
+It is, therefore, desirable that facts may be arranged in such a
+manner, that books should give a faithful account of what happened.
+There are magistrates who risk their life, excellent females who
+maintain their virtue, and celebrated individuals who protect their
+native places with a strong hand; they behave themselves valiantly,
+and overlook private considerations, if the subject concerns the
+welfare of the people at large. Without darkness, there is no light;
+without virtue, there is no splendour. In the course of time we have
+heard of many persons of such qualities; but how few books exist by
+which the authors benefit their age!
+
+This is the Preface respectfully written by _King chung ho_, called
+_Sin joo min_,[24] at the time of the second decade, the first month
+of the autumn, the year _K[)a]ng yin_ (September 1830) of Tao
+kwang.[25]
+
+
+
+
+                                 THE
+                               HISTORY
+                                  OF
+                         THE CHINESE PIRATES.
+
+
+
+
+                             BOOK FIRST.
+
+
+[sd: (1 r.)] There have been pirates from the oldest times in the
+eastern sea of Canton; they arose and disappeared alternately, but never
+were they so formidable as in the years of Këa king,[26] at which time,
+being closely united together, it was indeed very difficult to destroy
+them. Their origin must be sought for in Annam.[27] [sd: (1 v.)] In the
+year fifty-six of Këen lung (1792), a certain Kwang ping yuen, joined by
+his two brothers, Kwang e and Kwang kw[)o], took Annam by force, and
+expelled its legitimate king Wei ke le.[28] Le retired into the province
+Kwang se, and was made a general by our government. But his younger
+brother Fuh ying came in the sixth year of Këa king (1802) with an army
+from Siam and Laos,[29] and killed Kwang ping in a great battle. The son
+of the usurper, called King shing, went on board a ship with the
+minister Yew kin meih, and Meih joined the pirates, Ching tsih, Tung hae
+pa, and others, who rambled about these seas at this time. The pirate
+Ching tsih was appointed a king's officer, under the name of _master of
+the stables_. [sd: (2 r.)] King shing, relying on the force of his new
+allies, which consisted of about two hundred vessels, manned with a
+resolute and warlike people, returned in the twelfth moon of the same
+year (1803) into that country with an armed force, and joined by Ching
+tsih, at night time took possession of the bay of Annam. The legitimate
+king Fuh ying collected an army, but being beaten repeatedly, he tried
+in vain to retire to Laos.
+
+Ching tsih being a man who had lived all his life on the water, behaved
+himself, as soon as he got possession of the bay of Annam, in a
+tyrannical way to the inhabitants; he took what he liked, and, to say it
+in one word, his will alone was law. His followers conducted themselves
+in the same manner; trusting to their power and strength, they were
+cruel and violent against the people; they divided the whole population
+among themselves, and took their wives and daughters by force. The
+inhabitants felt very much annoyed at this behaviour, and attached
+themselves more strongly to Fuh ying. [sd: (2 v.)] They fixed a day on
+which some of the king's officers should make an attack on the
+sea-side, while the king himself with his general was to fight the van
+of the enemy, the people to rise _en masse_, and to run to arms, in
+order that they should be overwhelming by their numbers. Fuh ying was
+delighted at these tidings, and on the appointed day a great battle was
+fought, in which Ching tsih not being able to superintend all from the
+rear-guard to the van, and the people pressing besides very hard towards
+the centre, he was totally vanquished and his army destroyed. He himself
+died of a wound which he received in the battle. His younger brother
+Ching y[)i]h, the usurper, King shing, and his nephew Pang shang, with
+many others ran away. Ching y[)i]h, their chief, joined the pirates with
+his followers, who in these times robbed and plundered on the ocean
+indiscriminately. This was a very prosperous period for the pirates. So
+long as Wang pëaou remained admiral in these seas, all was peace and
+quietness both on the ocean and the sea-shore. [sd: (3 r.)] The admiral
+gained repeated victories over the bandits; but as soon as Wang pëaou
+died, the pirates divided themselves into different squadrons, which
+sailed under various colours. There existed six large squadrons, under
+different flags, the _red_, the _yellow_, the _green_, the _blue_, the
+_black_, and the _white_. These wasps of the ocean were called after
+their different commanders, _Ching y[)i]h_, _Woo che tsing_, _Meih yew
+kin_, _O po tai_, _Lëang paou_, and _Le shang tsing_. To every one of
+these large squadrons belonged smaller ones, commanded by a deputy. Woo
+che tsing, whose nick-name was _Tung hae pa_, the _Scourge of the
+Eastern Sea_,[30] was commander of the _yellow_ flag, and Le tsung hoo
+his deputy. Meih yew kin and Nëaou shih, who for this reason was called
+_Bird_ and _stone_, were the commanders of the _blue_ flag, and their
+deputies Meih's brethren, Yew kwei and Yew këe. [sd: (3 v.)] A certain
+Hae kang and another person Hwang ho, were employed as spies. O po tai,
+who afterwards changed his name to _Lustre of instruction_,[31] was the
+commander of the _black_ flag, and Ping yung ta, Chang jih këaou, and O
+tsew he, were his deputies. Lëang paou, nicknamed Tsung ping paou, The
+_jewel of the whole crew_, was the commander of the _white_ flag. Le
+shang tsing, nicknamed _The frog's meal_, was the commander of the
+_green_; and Ching y[)i]h of the _red_ flag. Every flag was appointed to
+cruise in a particular channel. There was at this time a gang of robbers
+in the province Fo këen, known by the name of Kwei këen (6760, 5822);
+they also joined the pirates, who became so numerous that it was
+impossible to master them. We must in particular mention a certain
+_Chang paou_, a notorious character in after-times. Under Chang paou
+were other smaller squadrons, commanded by Suh ke lan (nicknamed _Both
+odour and mountain_) Lëang po paou, Suh puh gow, and others. Chang paou
+himself belonged to the squadron of Ching y[)i]h saou, or the _wife of
+Ching y[)i]h_,[32] so that the red flag alone was stronger than all the
+others united together.
+
+[sd: (4 r.)] There are three water passages or channels along the
+sea-shore, south of the Mei ling mountains;[33] one goes eastward to
+_Hwy_ and _Chaou_[34]; the other westward to _Kao_, _Lëen_, _Luy_,
+_Këung_, _Kin_, _Tan_, _Yae_ and _Wan_;[35] and a third between these
+two, to _Kwang_ and _Chow_.[36] The ocean surrounds these passages, and
+here trading vessels from all the world meet together, wherefore this
+track is called "_The great meeting from the east and the south_." The
+piratical squadrons dividing between them the water passages and the
+adjoining coasts, robbed and carried away all that fell into their
+hands. [sd: (4 v.)] Both the eastern and the middle passage have been
+retained by the three piratical squadrons, Ching y[)i]h saou, O po tae,
+and Leang paou; the western passage was under the three others,
+nicknamed _Bird and stone_, _Frog's meal_, and the _Scourge of the
+eastern sea_. Peace and quietness was not known by the inhabitants of
+the sea-coast for a period of ten years. On the side from _Wei chow_ and
+_Neaou chow_[37] farther on to the sea, the passage was totally cut off;
+scarcely any man came hither. In this direction is a small island,
+surrounded on all sides by high mountains, where in stormy weather a
+hundred vessels find a safe anchorage; here the pirates retired when
+they could not commit any robberies. This land contains fine paddy
+fields, and abounds in all kinds of animals, flowers, and fruits. This
+island was the lurking-place of the robbers, where they stayed and
+prepared all the stores for their shipping.
+
+[Sidenote: 1807.]
+
+[sd: (5 r.)] Chang paou was a native of Sin hwy, near the mouth of the
+river,[38] and the son of a fisherman. Being fifteen years of age, he
+went with his father a fishing in the sea, and they were consequently
+taken prisoners by Ching y[)i]h, who roamed about the mouth of the
+river, ravaging and plundering. Ching y[)i]h saw Paou, and liked him so
+much, that he could not depart from him. [sd: (5 v.)] Paou was indeed a
+clever fellow--he managed all business very well; being also a fine
+young man, he became a favourite of Ching y[)i]h,[39] and was made a
+head-man or captain. [sd: (5 v.)] It happened, that on the seventeenth
+day of the tenth moon, in the twentieth year of Këa king (about the end
+of 1807), Ching y[)i]h perished in a heavy gale, and his legitimate wife
+_Sh[)i]h_ placed the whole crew under the sway of Paou; but so that she
+herself should be considered the Commander of all the squadrons
+together,--for this reason the division Ching y[)i]h was then called
+_Ching y[)i]h saou_, or _the wife of Ching y[)i]h_.[40] Being chief
+captain, Paou robbed and plundered incessantly, and daily increased his
+men and his vessels. He made the three following regulations:--
+
+     First:
+
+     _If any man goes privately on shore, or what is called
+     transgressing the bars, he shall be taken and his ears be
+     perforated in the presence of the whole fleet; repeating the
+     same act, he shall suffer death._
+
+     Second:
+
+     [Sidenote: 1807.]
+
+     _Not the least thing shall be taken privately from the stolen
+     and plundered goods. All shall be registered, and the pirate
+     receive for himself, out of_ _ten parts, only two; eight parts
+     belong to the storehouse, called the general fund; taking any
+     thing out of this general fund, without permission, shall be
+     death._
+
+     Third:
+
+    [sd: (6 r.)] _No person shall debauch at his pleasure captive women
+    taken in the villages and open places, and brought on  board a
+    ship; he must first request the ship's purser for permission, and
+    then go aside in the ship's hold. To use violence against any woman,
+    or to wed her without permission, shall be punished with death._[41]
+
+[Sidenote: 1807.]
+
+That the pirates might never feel want of provisions, Chang paou
+gained the country people to their interest. It was ordered, that
+wine, rice, and all other goods, should be paid for to the villagers;
+it was made capital punishment to take any thing of this kind by force
+or without paying for it. For this reason the pirates were never in
+want of gunpowder, provisions, and all other necessaries. By this
+strong discipline the whole crew of the fleet was kept in order.
+
+The wife of Ching y[)i]h was very strict in every transaction; nothing
+could be done without a written application. Anything which had been
+taken, or plundered, was regularly entered on the register of the
+storehouse. [sd: (6 v.)] The pirates received out of this common fund
+what they were in need of, and nobody dared to have private possessions.
+If on a piratical expedition any man left the line of battle, whether by
+advancing or receding, every pirate might accuse him at a general
+meeting, and on being found guilty, he was beheaded. Knowing how
+watchful Chang paou was on every side, the pirates took great care to
+behave themselves well.
+
+The pirates used to call the purser, or secretary of the storehouse,
+_Ink and writing master_; and they called their piratical plunder only
+_a transhipping of goods_.
+
+[Sidenote: 1807.]
+
+There was a temple in _Hwy chow_ dedicated to the _spirits of the three
+mothers_,[42] near the sea-coast, and many came thither to worship. The
+pirates visited this place whenever they passed it with their vessels,
+pretending to worship; but this was not the case--they thought of
+mischief, and had only their business to attend. Once they came with the
+commander at their head, as if to worship, but they laid hold on the
+image or statue to take it away. [sd: (7 r.)] They tried in vain from
+morning to the evening,--they were all together not able to move it.
+Chang paou alone[43] was able to raise the image, and being a fair wind,
+he gave order to bring it on board a ship. All who were concerned in
+this transaction feared to find, from the wrath of the spirit, their
+death in the piratical expeditions. They all prayed to escape the
+vengeance of heaven.
+
+[Sidenote: 1808.]
+
+On the seventh moon of the thirteenth year, the naval officer of the
+garrison at the Bocca Tigris,[44] Kw[)o] lang lin, sailed into the sea
+to fight the pirates.[45] Chang paou was informed by his spies of this
+officer's arrival, and prepared an ambush in a sequestered bay. [sd: (7
+v.)] He met Kw[)o] lang on a false attack, with a few vessels only; but
+twenty-five vessels came from behind, and the pirates surrounded Kw[)o]
+lang's squadron in three lines near Ma chow yang.[46] There followed a
+fierce battle, which lasted from the morning to the evening; it was
+impossible for Kw[)o] lang to break through the enemy's lines, and he
+determined to die fighting. Paou advanced; but Lang fought exceedingly
+hard against him. He loaded a gun and fired it at Paou, who perceiving
+the gun directed against him, gave way. Seeing this, the people thought
+he was wounded and dying; but as soon as the smoke vanished Paou stood
+again firm and upright, so that all thought he was a spirit. The pirates
+instantly grappled Kw[)o] lang's ship; Paou was the foremost, and Leang
+po paou the first to mount the vessel; he killed the helmsman, and took
+the ship. The pirates crowded about; the commander Kw[)o] lang engaging
+with small arms, much blood was shed. [sd: (8 r.)] This murderous
+battle lasted till night time; the bodies of the dead surrounded the
+vessels on all sides, and there perished an immense number of the
+pirates. Between three and five o'clock the pirates had destroyed or
+sunk three of our vessels. The other officers of Kw[)o] being afraid
+that they also might perish in the sea, displayed not all their
+strength; so it happened that the pirates making a sudden attack,
+captured the whole remaining fifteen vessels. Paou wished very much that
+Kw[)o] lang would surrender, but Lang becoming desperate, suddenly
+seized the pirate by the hair, and grinned at him. The pirate spoke
+kindly to him, and tried to soothe him. Lang, seeing himself deceived in
+his expectation, and that he could not attain death by such means,
+committed suicide,--being then a man of seventy years of age. Paou had
+really no intention to put Kw[)o] lang to death, and he was exceedingly
+sorry at what happened. [sd: (8 v.)] "We others," said Paou, "are like
+vapours dispersed by the wind; we are like the waves of the sea, roused
+up by a whirlwind; like broken bamboo-sticks on the sea, we are floating
+and sinking alternately, without enjoying any rest. Our success in this
+fierce battle will, after a short time, bring the united strength of
+government on our neck. If they pursue us in the different windings and
+bays of the sea--they have maps of them[47]--should we not get plenty to
+do? Who will believe that it happened not by my command, and that I am
+innocent of the death of this officer? Every man will charge me with the
+wanton murder of a commander, after he had been vanquished and his ships
+taken? And they who have escaped will magnify my cruelty.[48] [sd: (9
+r.)] If I am charged with the murder of this officer, how could I
+venture, if I should wish in future times, to submit myself? Would I not
+be treated according to the supposed cruel death of Kw[)o] lang?"
+
+[Sidenote: 1808.]
+
+At the time that Kw[)o] lang was fighting very bravely, about ten
+fisher-boats asked of the major Pang noo of the town Hëang shan,[49] to
+lend them the large guns, to assist the commander; but the major being
+afraid these fishermen might join the pirates,[50] refused their
+request. And thus it happened, that the commander himself perished with
+many others. There were in the battle three of my friends: the
+lieutenant Tao tsae lin, Tse[)o] tang hoo, and Ying tang hwang, serving
+under the former. Lin and Hoo were killed, but Hwang escaped when all
+was surrounded with smoke, and he it was who told me the whole affair.
+
+[Sidenote: 1808.]
+
+On the eighth moon the general Lin fa went out as commander to make war
+against the pirates; but on seeing that they were so numerous, he became
+afraid, and all the other officers felt apprehensions; he therefore
+tried to retire, but the pirates pursued after, and came up with him
+near a place called Olang pae.[51] [sd: (9 v.)] The vessels in the
+front attacked the pirates, who were not able to move, for there
+happened to be a calm. But the pirates leaped into the water, and came
+swimming towards our vessels. Our commander not being able to prevent
+this by force, six vessels were taken; and he himself, with ten other
+men, were killed by the pirates.
+
+[Sidenote: 1808.]
+
+A very large trading vessel called Teaou fa, coming back laden with
+goods from Annam and Tung king,[52] had a desperate skirmish with the
+pirates. Chang paou, knowing very well that he could not take her by
+force, captured two ferry boats, and the pirates concealed themselves
+therein. [sd: (10 r.)] Under the mask of ferrymen the pirates pursued
+after, and called upon Teaou fa to stop. Fa, confident in her strength,
+and that victory would be on her side, let the ferrymen come near, as if
+she had not been aware of the deceit. But as soon as the pirates laid
+hold of the ropes to board her, the trader's crew made a vigorous
+resistance, and the pirates could not avail themselves of their knives
+and arrows--guns they had not--the vessel being too large. There were
+killed about ten hands in attacking this vessel, and the pirates retired
+to their boat; a circumstance which never happened before.
+
+[Sidenote: 1809.]
+
+On the second moon of the fourteenth year, the admiral _Tsuen mow sun_
+went on board his flag vessel, called Mih teng, and proceeded with about
+one hundred other vessels to attack the pirates. They were acquainted
+with his design by their spies, and gathered together round Wan
+shan;[53] the admiral following them in four divisions. [sd: (10 v.)]
+The pirates, confident in their numbers, did not withdraw, but on the
+contrary spread out their line, and made a strong attack. Our commander
+looked very lightly on them, yet a very fierce battle followed, in which
+many were killed and wounded. The ropes and sails having been set on
+fire by the guns,[54] the pirates became exceeding afraid and took them
+away. The commander directed his fire against the steerage, that they
+might not be able to steer their vessels. Being very close one to the
+other, the pirates were exposed to the fire of all the four lines at
+once. The pirates opened their eyes in astonishment and fell down; our
+commander advanced courageously, laid hold of their vessels, killed an
+immense number of men, and took about two hundred prisoners. There was a
+pirate's wife in one of the boats, holding so fast by the helm that she
+could scarcely be taken away. [sd: (11 r.)] Having two cutlasses, she
+desperately defended herself, and wounded some soldiers; but on being
+wounded by a musket-ball, she fell back into the vessel and was taken
+prisoner.
+
+[Sidenote: 1809.]
+
+About this time, when the red squadron was assembled in Kwang chow wan,
+or the Bay of Kwang chow, Tsuen mow sun went to attack them; but he was
+not strong enough. The wife of Ching y[)i]h remained quiet; but she
+ordered Chang paou to make an attack on the front of our line with ten
+vessels, and Leang po paou to come from behind. Our commander fought in
+the van and in the rear, and made a dreadful slaughter; but there came
+suddenly two other pirates, Hëang shang url, and Suh puh king, who
+surrounded and attacked our commander on all sides. [sd: (11 v.)] Our
+squadron was scattered, thrown into disorder, and consequently cut to
+pieces; there was a noise which rent the sky; every man fought in his
+own defence, and scarcely a hundred remained together. The squadron of
+Ching y[)i]h overpowered us by numbers; our commander was not able to
+protect his lines, they were broken, and we lost fourteen vessels.
+
+[Sidenote: 1809.]
+
+Our men of war, escorting some merchant vessels, in the fourth moon of
+the same year, happened to meet the pirate nicknamed _The Jewel of the
+whole crew_, cruizing at sea near a place called Tang pae ke[)o],
+outside of Tsëaou mun. The traders became exceedingly frightened, but
+our commander said: "This not being the red flag, we are a match for
+them, therefore we will attack and conquer them." Then ensued a battle;
+they attacked each other with guns and stones, and many people were
+killed and wounded. [sd: (12 r.)] The fighting ceased towards the
+evening, and began again next morning. The pirates and the men of war
+were very close to each other, and they boasted mutually about their
+strength and valour. It was a very hard fight; the sound of cannon and
+the cries of the combatants were heard some le[55] distant. The traders
+remained at some distance; they saw the pirates mixing gunpowder in
+their beverage,--they looked instantly red about the face and the eyes,
+and then fought desperately[56] This fighting continued three days and
+nights incessantly; at last becoming tired on both sides, they
+separated.
+
+[Sidenote: 1809.]
+
+[sd: (12 v.)] On the eighth day of the fifth moon the pirates left their
+lurking place, attacked Kan chuh han, and burned and plundered the
+houses. On the tenth they burned and plundered Kew këang, Sha kow, and
+the whole sea-coast; they then turned about to Këe chow, went on shore,
+and carried away fifty-three women by force. They went to sea again the
+following day, burned and plundered on their way about one hundred
+houses in Sin hwy and Shang sha, and took about a hundred persons of
+both sexes prisoners.
+
+[Sidenote: 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. [sd: (13 r.)] Indeed, as the weather cleared up on the
+morning of the ninth, Chang paou appeared suddenly before the admiral,
+and formed a line 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." [sd: (13 v.)] They now all united together in a furious
+attack, and sustained 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.
+
+[Sidenote: 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.
+
+[Sidenote: 1809.]
+
+[sd: (14 r.)] 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 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 _Kw[)o] 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 [Sidenote: (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]
+
+[Sidenote: 1809.]
+
+The pirates came now into the river by three different passages.[61]
+[sd: (15 r.)] The wife of Ching y[)i]h 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 with Shun tih; they were together
+explored by the pirates, who guarded the passage from Fan to Shun.
+
+[Sidenote: 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, Sh[)i]h 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
+sh[)i]h, 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. [sd: (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?"
+
+[Sidenote: 1809.]
+
+The other part, who would not grant the tribute, said: "The pirates will
+never be satisfied; if we give them the tribute now, we shall not be
+able to pay it on another day. If they should make extortions a second
+time, when should we get money to comply with their demands? Why should
+we not rather spend the two thousand pieces of money to encourage
+government officers and the people? [sd: (16 r.)] If we fight and happen
+to be victorious, our place will be highly esteemed; but if, what heaven
+may prevent, we should be unlucky, we shall be everywhere highly spoken
+of." The day drew to its end, and they could not agree in what they
+should determine on, when one villager arose and said: "The banditti
+will repeatedly visit us, and then it will be impossible to pay the
+tribute; _we must fight_."
+
+[Sidenote: 1809.]
+
+As soon as it was resolved to resist the demands of the pirates, weapons
+were prepared, and all able men, from sixteen years and upwards to
+sixty, were summoned to appear with their arms near the palisades. They
+kept quiet the whole of the second day, and proceeded not to fighting;
+but the people were much disturbed, and did not sleep the whole night.
+[sd: (16 v.)] On the following day they armed and posted themselves on
+the sea-coast. The pirates, seeing that the villagers would not pay the
+tribute, became enraged, and made a severe attack during the night; but
+they could not pass the ditch before the village. On the morning of the
+fourth, O po tae headed his men, forced the ditch, took the provisions,
+and killed the cattle. The pirates in great numbers went on shore; but
+the villagers made such a vigorous resistance that they began to
+withdraw. O po tae therefore surrounded the village on both sides, and
+the pirates took possession of the mountain in the rear; they then threw
+the frightened villagers into disorder, pursued them, and killed about
+eighty. After this the pirates proceeded with their van to the
+sea-shore, without encountering any resistance from the front. [sd: (17
+r.)] The villagers were from the beginning very much alarmed for their
+wives and daughters; they collected them in the temple and shut it up.
+But the pirates being victorious, opened the temple, and carried the
+women by force all away on board ship. One pirate set off with two very
+fine women; a villager, on seeing this, pursued after and killed him in
+a hidden place. He then took the women and carried them safe through the
+water,--this was a servant. A great number of the pirates were killed
+and wounded, and the villagers lost about two thousand persons. What a
+cruel misfortune! it is hard indeed only to relate it.
+
+[Sidenote: 1809.]
+
+On the third day of the moon the people of Ta ma chow, hearing that the
+pirates were coming near, ran away. The pirates plundered all that was
+left behind, clothes, cattle, and provisions. [sd: (17 v.)] On the sixth
+day they came so far as Ping chow and San shan. On the eighth they
+retired to Shaou wan, made an attack upon it on the ninth, but could not
+take it. On the tenth they ascended the river with the tide, went on
+shore, and burned Wei shih tun. On the eleventh day they came to our
+village, but retired again at night on command. On the twelfth they
+attacked Hwang yung, and left it again on the thirteenth. They retired
+on the fourteenth, and stopped at Nan pae. On the fifteenth they sailed
+out of the Bocca Tigris,[66] and on the twenty-sixth attacked the ships
+which bring the tribute from Siam,[67] but were not strong enough to
+capture them. [sd: (18 r.)] On the twenty-ninth they attacked the places
+Tung hwan and Too shin, and killed nearly a thousand men.
+
+[Sidenote: 1809.]
+
+The pirates tried many stratagems and frauds to get into the villages.
+One came as a country gentleman to take charge of the government guns;
+another came in a government vessel as if to assist the village; after
+which they on a sudden attacked and plundered all, when people were not
+aware of them. One pirate went round as a pedlar, to see and hear all,
+and to explore every place. The country people became therefore at last
+enraged, and were in future always on their guard. If they found any
+foreigner, they took him for a pirate and killed him. So came once a
+government officer on shore to buy rice; but the inhabitants thought he
+was a pirate and killed him. There was every where a degree of
+confusion, which it is impossible to explain.
+
+[Sidenote: 1809.]
+
+On the sixteenth day of the seventh moon, the pirates attacked a
+village near Tung kwan. [sd: (18 v.)] The villagers knowing what would
+happen, made fences and palisades, and obstructed the passage with large
+guns. Armed with lances and targets they hid themselves in a secret
+place, and selected ten men only to oppose the pirates. The pirates
+seeing that there were so few people, went on shore to pursue them. As
+soon as they came near the ambuscade the guns were fired; the pirates
+became alarmed and dared not advance farther. Not being hurt by the
+fire, they again advanced; but three pirates presuming that there was an
+ambush, thought of retreating, and being very hard pressed by the enemy,
+they gave a sign to their comrades to come on shore. The ten villagers
+then retired near the ambush, and when the pirates pursued them, about a
+hundred were killed by their guns, and the whole force of the banditti
+was brought into disorder. [sd: (19 r.)] The villagers pursued them
+killing many; those also who had been taken alive were afterwards
+beheaded. They captured one small and two large vessels.[68]
+
+[Sidenote: 1809.]
+
+On the eighteenth day of the eighth moon the wife of Ching y[)i]h came
+with about five hundred vessels from Tung kwan and Sin hwy, and caused
+great commotion in the town Shun tih, Hëang shan, and the neighbouring
+places. The squadron stopped at Tan chow, and on the twentieth Chang pao
+was ordered to attack Shaou ting with three hundred vessels. He carried
+away about four hundred people, both male and female; he came also to
+the palisades of our village, but could not penetrate inside. [sd: (19
+v.)] The twenty-first he came to Lin tow, and the twenty-second to Kan
+shin; he made an attack, but could not overpower the place; he then
+returned to Pwan pëen jow, and lay before its fence. The inhabitants of
+Chow po chin, knowing that the pirates would make an attack, assembled
+behind the wall to oppose them. The pirates fired their guns and wounded
+some, when the villagers ran away. The pirates then went on shore, but
+the villagers crowded together and fired on them; the pirates cast
+themselves on the ground, and the shots passed over their heads without
+doing any harm. Before the gunners could again load, the pirates sprang
+up and put them to death. Out of the three thousand men who were in the
+battle, five hundred were carried away by the pirates. One of the most
+daring pirates, bearing the flag, was killed by the musket of a
+villager; a second pirate then took the flag, and he also was killed.
+The pirates now pressed against the wall and advanced. [sd: (20 r.)]
+There was also a foreign pirate[69] engaged in the battle with a
+fowling-piece. The pirates assembled in great numbers to cut the wall
+with their halberts, but they were disappointed on seeing they could not
+attain their object in such a manner. The pirates lost their hold, fell
+down, and were killed. The engagement now became general, and great
+numbers were killed and wounded on both sides. The villagers at last
+were driven from their fortifications, and the pirates pursued them to
+_Mih ke_, or _the rocks about Mih_, where they were hindered from going
+farther by foggy weather; they retired and burned about twenty houses,
+with all they contained. On the following day the pirates appeared again
+on the shore, but the inhabitants made a vigorous resistance, and being
+driven back, they retired to the citadel _Chih hwa_, where a thousand of
+them fought so hard that the pirates withdrew. [sd: (20 v.)] It was
+reported that ten of them were killed, and that the villagers lost eight
+men. On the twenty-third the wife of Ching y[)i]h ordered O po tae to go
+up the river with about eighty vessels: he stopped at Show ke and Kung
+shih. On the twenty-fourth Chang paou and Po tae divided this district
+between themselves, and robbed and burned all. Pao had to plunder the
+north part to Fo shin; he carried away about ten thousand stones of
+rice,[70] and burned down about thirty houses; on the twenty-fifth he
+went to Se shin. O po tae came and burnt San heung keih; he then
+plundered Hwang yung, and came to Këen ke, but did not make an attack
+against it. He afterwards returned and laid waste Cha yung.
+
+[Sidenote: 1809.]
+
+[sd: (21 r.)] On the twenty-sixth Chang paou went up the river to Nan
+hae[71] and Lan sh[)i]h. In the harbour of the place were six rice
+vessels; and as soon as Paou was in Lan sh[)i]h he made preparations to
+capture these vessels. The military officer, seeing that the pirates
+were numerous, remained however on his station, for the instant he would
+have moved, Paou would have attacked and captured him. Paou proceeded
+then against the village itself; but the officer Ho shaou yuen headed
+the inhabitants, and made some resistance. The pirates, nevertheless,
+mounted the banks; and the villagers seeing their strength, did not stay
+to fight--they became frightened and ran away: all the others ran away
+without making any resistance: [sd: (21 v.)] Ho shaou yuen alone opposed
+the banditti with a handful of people; but he at last fell fighting, and
+the pirates burnt four hundred shops and houses, and killed about ten
+persons. After the pirates had retired, the inhabitants held in high
+esteem the excellent behaviour of Ho shaou yuen; they erected him a
+temple, and the deputy-governor Han fung performed sacrifices to his
+memory.
+
+[Sidenote: 1809.]
+
+Shaou yuen was commanding officer in the citadel of Lan shih; he was of
+an active spirit, and erected strong fences. Before the pirates arrived,
+this was his daily discourse when he spoke to the people: "_I know that
+I shall be glorified this year by my death_." Half the year being
+already passed, it could not be seen how this prophecy was to be
+fulfilled. When the pirates came, he encouraged the citizens to oppose
+them vigorously; he himself girded on his sword and brandished his
+spear, and was the most forward in the battle. He killed many persons;
+but his strength failed him at last, and he was himself killed by the
+pirates. The villagers were greatly moved by his excellent behaviour;
+they erected him a temple, and said prayers before his effigy. It was
+then known what he meant, that "he would be glorified in the course of
+the year." Now that twenty years are passed, they even honour him by
+exhibiting fire-works. I thought it proper to subjoin this remark to my
+history.[72]
+
+[Sidenote: 1809.]
+
+On the twenty-seventh, Lin sun mustered about forty vessels, and went
+out to fight with the pirates in order to protect the water passage.
+[sd: (22 r.)] He remained at Kin kang (which is near Shaou wan hae), hid
+himself westerly of that place the whole day, and removed then to Tsze
+ne. Chang paou ordered his vessels to remove to Shaou ting, and his men
+to go on shore in the night-time. Sun, seeing with sorrow that the
+pirates were so numerous, and that he could not make any effectual
+resistance, ran away eastwards and hid himself at Peih keang. At
+daylight the following morning the pirates sailed to Tsze ne to attack
+our commander, but not finding him, they stopped at Shaou ting; for
+this being the time when the autumnal winds begin to blow, they were
+afraid of them, and made preparations to retire. But we shall soon find
+the different flags returning to the high sea to fight both with
+extraordinary courage and great ferocity.[73]
+
+[Sidenote: 1809.]
+
+[sd: (22 v.)] On the twenty-ninth they returned to plunder Kan shin;
+they went into the river with small vessels, and the inhabitants
+opposing them, wounded two pirates, which all the pirates resented. They
+next came with large vessels, surrounded the village, and made
+preparations to mount the narrow passes. The inhabitants remained within
+the intrenchments, and dared not come forward. The pirates then divided
+their force according to the various passes, and made an attack. The
+inhabitants prepared themselves to make a strong resistance near the
+entrance from the sea on the east side of the fence; but the pirates
+stormed the fence, planted their flag on the shore, and then the whole
+squadron followed. The inhabitants fought bravely, and made a dreadful
+slaughter when the pirates crossed the entrance at Lin tow. The
+boxing-master, Wei tang chow, made a vigorous resistance, and killed
+about ten pirates. The pirates then began to withdraw, but Chang paou
+himself headed the battle, which lasted very long. The inhabitants were
+not strong enough. [sd: (23 r.)] Wei tang was surrounded by the pirates;
+nevertheless that his wife fought valiantly by his side. On seeing that
+they were surrounded and exhausted, the father of the lady[74] rushed
+forward and killed some pirates. The pirates then retired in opposite
+directions, in order to surround their opponents in such a manner that
+they might not escape, and could be killed without being able to make
+any resistance; and thus it happened, the wife of Wei tang being slain
+with the others.
+
+The pirates now pursued the inhabitants of the place, who cut the bridge
+and retired to the neighbouring hills. The pirates swam through the
+water and attacked the inhabitants, who were unable to escape. [sd: (23
+v.)] The whole force of the pirates being now on shore, the inhabitants
+suffered a severe loss,--it is supposed about a hundred of them were
+killed; the loss of the pirates also was considerable.
+
+[Sidenote: 1809.]
+
+The pirates went in four divisions to plunder; they took here an immense
+quantity of clothes and other goods, and carried away one thousand one
+hundred and forty captives of both sexes. They set on fire about ten
+houses; the flames could not be extinguished for some days; in the whole
+village you could not hear the cry of a dog or a hen. The other
+inhabitants retired far from the village, or hid themselves in the
+fields. In the paddy fields about a hundred women were hidden, but the
+pirates on hearing a child crying, went to the place and carried them
+away. [sd: (24 r.)] _Mei ying_, the wife of Ke choo yang, was very
+beautiful, and a pirate being about to seize her by the head, she abused
+him exceedingly. The pirate bound her to the yard-arm; but on abusing
+him yet more, the pirate dragged her down and broke two of her teeth,
+which filled her mouth and jaws with blood. The pirate sprang up again
+to bind her. Ying allowed him to approach, but as soon as he came near
+her, she laid hold of his garments with her bleeding mouth, and threw
+both him and herself into the river, where they were drowned, The
+remaining captives of both sexes were after some months liberated, on
+having paid a ransom of fifteen thousand leang or ounces of silver.
+
+[Sidenote: 1809.]
+
+Travelling once to Pwan pëen jow I was affected by the virtuous
+behaviour of _Mei ying_, and all generous men will, as I suppose, be
+moved by the same feelings. I therefore composed a song, mourning her
+fate:
+
+    Ch[.e]n k[.e] k[=i]n se[=a]ou hë[)e],
+    Chúy sz[=e] ch[=u]ng soó mëèn.
+    T[=a]ng sh[=e] shw[)u]y fàn le[)i]h,
+    Y[=e]w nèu t[)u]h n[=a]ng ts[=u]y;
+    Tsë[)e]n h[=e]u[)e] y[=i]ng kwáng në[)e],[75]
+    Yu[=e]n ke[)u] yu[=e]n shw[)u]y we[=i].
+    Shw[=u]y hw[)a]n p[=o] shàng heà,
+    Y[=i]ng lëe sháng pèi hw[=u]y.
+
+[Sidenote: 1809.]
+
+    Cease fighting now for awhile!
+    Let us call back the flowing waves!
+    Who opposed the enemy in time?
+    A single wife could overpower him. [sd: (24 v.)]
+    Streaming with blood, she grasped the mad offspring of guilt,
+    She held fast the man and threw him into the meandering stream.
+    The spirit of the water, wandering up and down on the waves,
+    Was astonished at the virtue of _Ying_.
+                My song is at an end!
+    Waves meet each other continually.
+    I see the water green as mountain Peih,
+    But the brilliant fire returns no more![76]
+    How long did we mourn and cry![77]
+
+
+
+
+                             BOOK SECOND.
+
+
+[Sidenote: 1809.]
+
+[sd: (1 r.)] On the thirteenth day of the ninth moon our Admiral Tsuen
+mow sun mustered about eighty vessels to go to Shaou wan, and obstruct
+the passage. The pirates heard of these preparations, and on the night
+of the fourteenth every vessel of the different flags was ordered to go
+to Shaou wan. Their order was, that being within ten le from the place,
+they should stop and prepare themselves to begin the battle when it was
+dark. [sd: (1 v.)] From the first night watch the cannon began to fire,
+and only ceased with daylight. At the end of the day the cannon were
+again roaring without any intermission, and the country people mounted
+on the green Lo shang, to look at the progress of the fight. They saw
+the wrecks of vessels floating on the sea, the waves were rolling, the
+bullets flying, and the cries of dying people mounted to the skies. The
+vallies re-echoed the noise; beasts and birds[78] started alarmed, and
+found no place where they might repose themselves. The vessels were
+thrown into disorder, and our army was pressed down by the overpowering
+force of the enemy. Our commander lost four vessels, but the palisade
+before the village could not be taken, by which means it was protected
+against pillage. Our admiral said, "Since I cannot conquer these wicked
+pirates, I will blow myself up." [sd: (2 r.)] In this manner the admiral
+and many other officers met their death.
+
+[Sidenote: 1809.]
+
+On the twenty-fifth the pirates went to Hëang shan and to great Hwang
+po;[79] they took possession of the inside and the outside passage of
+Hwang po, so that the boat-people,[80] who stay outside on the coast,
+retired and came up to the town with their boats. The military officer
+Ting gaou ho being made acquainted with the arrival of the pirates,
+requested ten fishing boats from the town Hëang shan to assist the
+citizens and to help them in opposing the enemy. He posted himself
+before the town to protect it. [sd: (2 v.)] Ting gaou behaved valiantly
+on the river; he headed his small fleet of fishing boats and opposed the
+pirates. There was incessant fighting day and night; but at last the
+numerous vessels of the pirates surrounded him on all sides, and Ting
+gaou ho received a severe wound in the back. He then addressed his
+comrades in the following words:
+
+    "Being on the military station before this town, it was my intention
+    to destroy the pirates, and for this reason I united with all the
+    principal men to oppose them, without considering my own
+    safety;--joyful I went to oppose the enemy. But not being able to
+    destroy this immense number of banditti, I am now surrounded with
+    all my principal men; and being deficient in power, I will die.
+    Death could not move me, but I fear the cruel behaviour of the
+    banditti; I fear that if the battle come to its highest summit, our
+    fathers and mothers, our wives and  sons, will be taken captives.
+    [sd: (3 r.)] United with the principal men of the town, we cannot
+    destroy the pirates, neither protect the country, our families, nor
+    our own firesides,--but the circumstances being desperate, we must
+    do our utmost."[81]
+
+[Sidenote: 1809.]
+
+They now again rushed against the pirates and killed many of them; but
+their strength being exhausted, the ten fishing boats were taken, and
+great Hwang po given up to be plundered. The citizens retired to their
+intrenchments, and made such vigorous resistance that the pirates
+could not make them captives. Chang paou therefore ordered O po tae
+and Leang po paou to make an attack on both sides, on the front and
+the rear at once; so the citizens sustained a great defeat, and about
+a hundred of them were killed. A placard was then posted up in the
+town, admonishing the citizens that they being unable to resist the
+enemy, must, under these cruel circumstances, send messengers to make
+terms with the pirates. [sd: (3 v.)] This being done, the pirates
+withdrew.
+
+[Sidenote: 1809.]
+
+The wife of Ching yih then ordered the pirates to go up the river; she
+herself remaining with the larger vessels in the sea to blockade the
+different harbours or entrances from the sea-side; but the government
+officers made preparations to oppose her. There were about this time
+three foreign vessels returning to Portugal.[82] Y[)i]h's wife attacked
+them, took one vessel, and killed about ten of the foreigners; the two
+other vessels escaped. The Major Pang noo of Hëang shan about this time
+fitted out a hundred vessels to attack the pirates; he had before hired
+six foreign vessels, and the two Portuguese ships, which had before run
+away, united also with him. Y[)i]h's wife, seeing that she had not
+vessels enough, and that she might be surrounded, ordered a greater
+number to her assistance. [sd: (4 r.)] She appointed Chang paou to
+command them, and sail up the river; but to keep quiet with his squadron
+till he saw the Chang lung, or government vessels come on. On the third
+of the tenth moon the government vessels went higher up the river, and
+Chang paou following and attacking them, the foreign vessels sustained a
+great loss, and all the other vessels then ran away. The foreigners
+showed themselves very courageous; they petitioned the mayor of Hëang
+shan to place himself at the head of the foreign vessels, to go and
+fight the pirates. [sd: (4 v.)] Pang noo having for some time considered
+their request, inspected on the tenth of the same month the six foreign
+vessels, their arms and provisions, and went out into the sea to pursue
+the pirates.
+
+About this time Chang paou had collected his force at Ta yu shan near
+Chih leih ke[)o], and the foreign vessels went thither to attack him.
+About the same time the admiral, Tsuen mow sun, collected a hundred
+vessels, and joined the foreigners to attack the pirates. On the
+thirteenth they spread out their lines, and fought during two days and
+two nights, without either party proving victorious. On the fifteenth
+one of the officers went forward with some large vessels to attack the
+pirates, but he was very much hurt by the fire of the guns; his vessel
+was lost, and about ten men were killed and many others wounded,--after
+this, the whole fleet retired. They however again commenced fighting on
+the sixteenth, but being unable to withstand the pirates, one vessel
+more was lost.[83]
+
+[Sidenote: 1809.]
+
+[sd: (5 r.)] The Admiral Tsuen mow sun was exceedingly eager to destroy
+the pirates, but he was confident that he was not strong enough to
+vanquish them, and he spoke thus to his people: "The pirates are too
+powerful, we cannot master them by our arms; the pirates are many, we
+only few; the pirates have large vessels, we only small ones; the
+pirates are united under one head, but we are divided,--and we alone are
+unable to engage with this overpowering force. We must therefore now
+make an attack, when they cannot avail themselves of their number, and
+contrive something besides physical strength, for by this alone it is
+impossible for us to be victorious. [sd: (5 v.)] The pirates are now all
+assembled in Ta yu shan, a place which is surrounded by water. Relying
+on their strength, and thinking that they will be able to vanquish us,
+they will certainly not leave this place of retirement. We should
+therefore from the provincial city (Canton) assemble arms and soldiers
+as many as we can, surround the place, and send fire-vessels among their
+fleet. It is probable that in such a manner we may be able to measure
+our strength with them."
+
+[Sidenote: 1809.]
+
+In consequence of this determination all commanders and officers of the
+different vessels were ordered to meet on the seventeenth at Chih leih
+ke[)o], to blockade the pirates in Ta yu shan, and to cut off all
+supplies of provisions that might be sent to them. To annoy them yet
+more, the officers were ordered to prepare the materials for the
+fire-vessels. These fire-vessels were filled with gunpowder, nitre, and
+other combustibles; after being filled, they were set on [Sidenote: (6
+r.)] fire by a match from the stern, and were instantly all in a blaze.
+The Major of Hëang shan, Pang noo, asked permission to bring soldiers
+with him, in order that they might go on shore and make an attack under
+the sound of martial music, during the time the mariners made their
+preparation. On the twentieth it began to blow very fresh from the
+north, and the commander ordered twenty fire-vessels to be sent off,
+when they took, driven by the wind, an easterly direction; but the
+pirate's entrenchments being protected by a mountain, the wind ceased,
+and they could not move farther on in that direction; they turned about
+and set on fire two men of war. The pirates knowing our design were
+well prepared for it; they had bars with very long pincers, by which
+they took hold of the fire-vessels and kept them off, so that they could
+not come near. [sd: (6 v.)] Our commander, however, would not leave the
+place; and being very eager to fight, he ordered that an attack should
+be made, and it is presumed that about three hundred pirates were
+killed. Pao now began to be afraid, and asked the _Spirit of the three
+Po_, or old mothers, to give a prognostic. The _P[)u]h_, or lot for
+fighting, was disastrous; the _P[)u]h_, or lot to remain in the easterly
+entrenchment, was to be happy. The _P[)u]h_, or lot for knowing if he
+might force the blockade or not on leaving his station to-morrow, was
+also happy,[84] three times one after another.
+
+[Sidenote: 1809.]
+
+There arose with the day-light on the twenty-second a light southerly
+breeze; all the squadrons began to move, and the pirates prepared
+themselves joyfully to leave their station. About noon[85] there was a
+strong southerly wind, and a very rough sea on. As soon as it became
+dark the pirates made sail, with a good deal of noise, and broke through
+the blockade, favoured by the southerly wind. About a hundred vessels
+were upset, when the pirates left Ta yu shan. But our commander being
+unaware that the pirates would leave their entrenchments, was not
+prepared to withstand them. [sd: (7 r.)] The foreign vessels fired their
+guns and surrounded about ten leaky vessels, but could not hurt the
+pirates themselves; the pirates left the leaky vessels behind and ran
+away. After this they assembled outside at Hung chow in the ocean.
+
+[Sidenote: 1809.]
+
+Notwithstanding that the pirates had broken through the blockade, Tsuen
+mow sun desisted not from pursuing them; he followed the pirates into
+the open sea in order to attack them. On the fifth of the eleventh moon
+he met the pirates near Nan gaou, and prepared his vessels[86] to attack
+them. The pirates spread out all their vessels one by one, so that the
+line of their fleet reached the forces of our commander; they then tried
+to form a circle and surround our admiral. [sd: (7 v.)] Our commander,
+in order to prevent this, divided his force,--he separated from him
+eighty vessels, which had orders to join him afterwards. Before they
+united again, a great battle took place between the two fleets; the
+firing lasted from three till five in the afternoon; our crew fought
+exceedingly hard and burnt three pirate-vessels. The pirates retreated,
+and our navy declined pursuing them, because it would carry them too far
+out of the way. Our crew being still elated at this transaction, the
+pirates on a sudden returned, roused them out of their sleep and
+constrained them to fight a second time. The commander had no time to
+make preparations, so that two vessels were burnt by the fire of the
+pirates, and three were captured.
+
+[Sidenote: 1809.]
+
+[sd: (8 r.)] At the time when Chang paou was blockaded in Chih leih
+ke[)o], and was afraid that he should not be able to come out again, he
+sent to O po tae, who was at Wei chow, to rescue him. His message was in
+the following words:--"I am harassed by the government's officers
+outside in the sea; lips and teeth must help one another, if the lips
+are cut away the teeth will feel cold. How shall I alone be able to
+fight the government forces? You should therefore come at the head of
+your crew, to attack the government squadron in the rear, I will then
+come out of my station and make an attack in front; the enemy being so
+taken in the front and rear, will, even supposing we cannot master him,
+certainly be thrown into disorder."
+
+Ever since the time Paou was made chieftain there had been altercations
+between him and O po tae. Had it not have been out of respect for the
+wife of Ching y[)i]h they would perhaps have [Sidenote: (8v.)] made war
+against each other. Till now they only showed their mutual dislike in
+their plundering expeditions on the ocean, and in consequence of this
+jealousy Po tae did not fulfil the orders of Paou. Paou and his whole
+crew felt very much annoyed at this conduct, and having been able to
+break through the blockade, he resolved to measure his strength with
+Tae. He met him at Neaou chow, and asked him: "Why did you not come to
+my assistance?"
+
+[Sidenote: 1809.]
+
+O po tae answered: "You must first consider your strength and then act;
+you must consider the business and then go to work. How could I and my
+crew have been sufficient against the forces of the admiral. [sd: (9
+r.)] I learnt your request, but men being dependent upon circumstances,
+I could not fulfil it; I learnt your request, but I was dependent on
+circumstances, and men cannot act otherwise.[87] And now concerning this
+business--to give or not give assistance--am I bound to come and join
+your forces?"
+
+Paou became enraged and said: "How is this, will you then separate from
+us?"
+
+Tae answered: "I will not separate myself."
+
+Paou: "Why then do you not obey the orders of the wife of Ching y[)i]h
+and my own? What is this else than separation, that you do not come to
+assist me, when I am surrounded by the enemy? I have sworn it that I
+will destroy thee, wicked man, that I may do away with this soreness on
+my back."
+
+[Sidenote: 1809.]
+
+There passed many other angry words between them, till they at length
+prepared to fight and destroy each other. Chang paou was the first to
+begin the battle; but having fired his guns, and being deficient in
+strength, Tae went against him with all his well prepared forces. [sd:
+(9 v.)] Paou was not able to make any effectual resistance to his enemy;
+he received a severe defeat, he lost sixteen vessels, and three hundred
+men were taken prisoners. The prisoners were all killed from mutual
+hatred.
+
+O po tae remained then at the head of his forces without any opposition,
+since Paou withdrew. There was now a meeting held under these banditti;
+when Chang jih kao arose and said:
+
+[Sidenote: 1809.]
+
+"If Paou and we should again measure our strength against each other,
+our force will not be found sufficient; we are only one to ten. It is
+to be feared that they will collect all their forces together to
+exterminate us. They may on a sudden come against us and make an
+attack,--our small body must certainly be in fear of their vast number.
+There is _Leang po paou_, an experienced pirate on the sea; if he should
+on a sudden turn his vessels against us, there is not one among us who
+would be able to resist him. [sd: (10 r.)] He is a very zealous
+worshipper of the spirit of the three Po or Mothers, and protected by
+them; nay, and protected by them in a supernatural manner. But if we
+perform sacrifices, they remain without shadow and echo.[88] And then it
+may also be added that we are no more able to withstand with our short
+arms their long ones, than dogs are able to chase fierce tigers. But do
+we not every where see government placards inviting us to submit, why do
+we not then send somebody to make the offer? The government will pardon
+and not destroy us sea-monsters,[89] and we may then reform our previous
+conduct. Why should we not therefore come to a determination to that
+effect?"
+
+Fung yung fa said: "How then if government should not trust our word?"
+
+[Sidenote: 1809.]
+
+[sd: (10 v.)] Chang jih kao answered: "If government should learn that
+we recently fought Chang paou, and destroyed the banditti,--it would be
+hard indeed if that were not enough to make them trust us?"
+
+Go tsew he said: "If government should not act towards us, as it is
+stated in the placard, after having made our submission, we may then
+again use violence. But they will hear, that we attacked the others,
+like fishes their food; that we alone made a beginning in destroying the
+pirates, and then tendered our submission,--they will feel that they can
+employ us to destroy the other pirates. He who is not of the same
+opinion as mine may let his hand hang down."
+
+O po tae was of the same opinion, and the purser was ordered to frame
+the offer of submission to government. The petition concerning the offer
+was couched in the following terms:
+
+[Sidenote: 1809.]
+
+    [sd: (11 r.)] "It is my humble opinion that all robbers of an
+    overpowering force, whether they had their origin from this or any
+    other cause, have felt the humanity of government at different
+    times. Leang shan who three times plundered the city, was
+    nevertheless pardoned and at last made a minister of state.[90] Wa
+    kang often challenged the arms of his country and was suffered to
+    live, and at last made a corner-stone of the empire. Joo ming
+    pardoned seven times Mang hw[)o]; and Kwan kung three times set
+    Tsaou tsaou at liberty.[91] Ma yuen pursued not the exhausted
+    robbers; and Y[)o] fei killed not  those who made their submission.
+    [sd: (11 v.)] There are many other instances of such transactions
+    both in former and recent times, by which the country was
+    strengthened and government increased its power. We now live in a
+    very populous age; some of us could not agree with their relations,
+    and were driven out like noxious weeds. Some after having tried all
+    they could, without being able to provide for themselves, at last
+    joined bad society. Some lost their property by shipwrecks; some
+    withdrew into this watery empire to escape from punishment. In such
+    a way those, who in the beginning were only three or five, were in
+    the course of time increased to a thousand or ten thousand, and so
+    it went on increasing every year. Would it not have been wonderful
+    if such a multitude, being in want of their daily bread, should not
+    have resorted to plunder and robbery to gain their subsistence,
+    since they could not in any other manner be saved from famine? It
+    was from necessity that the laws of the empire were violated, and
+    the merchants robbed of  their goods. [sd: (12 r.)] Being deprived
+    of our land and of our native places, having no house or home to
+    resort to, and relying only on the chances of wind and water, even
+    could we for a moment forget our griefs, we might fall in with a
+    man-of-war, who with stones, darts and guns, would blow out our
+    brains."
+
+    "Even if we dared to sail up a stream and boldly go on with anxiety
+    of mind under wind, rain, and stormy weather, we must every where
+    prepare for fighting. Whether we went to the east, or to the west,
+    and after having felt all the hardships of the sea, the night dew
+    was our only dwelling, and the rude wind our meal. But now we will
+    avoid these perils, leave our connexions, and desert our comrades;
+    we will make our submission. The power of government knows no
+    bounds; it reaches to the islands in the sea, and every man is
+    afraid and sighs. Oh we must be destroyed  by our crimes, none can
+    escape who opposeth the laws of government. [sd: (12 v.)] May you
+    then feel compassion for those who are deserving of death; may you
+    sustain us by your humanity!"
+
+[Sidenote: 1809.]
+
+The chief officers of government met joyfully together at Canton. The
+governor-general of the southern district ever loved the people like
+himself; and to show his benevolence he often invited them by public
+placards to make submission:--he really felt compassion for these
+lower sort of men, who were polluted with crimes. The way of
+compassion and benevolence is the way of heaven, which is pleased with
+virtue; it is the right way to govern by righteousness. Can the bird
+remain quiet with strong wings, or will the fish not move in deep
+water? Every person acts from natural endowments, and our general
+would have felt compassion even for the meanest creature on earth, if
+they would have asked for pardon. He therefore redeemed these pirates
+from destruction, and pardoned their former crimes.[92]
+
+[Sidenote: 1809.]
+
+After this period the country began to assume a new appearance. [sd: (13
+r.)] People sold their arms and bought oxen to plough their fields; they
+burned sacrifices, said prayers on the top of the hills, and rejoiced
+themselves by singing behind screens during day-time. There were some
+people who endeavoured to act with duplicity, and wished to murder the
+pirates, but the general on seeing the petition said to his assistants:
+"I will pull down the vanguard of the enemy to use it for the
+destruction of the remaining part. I may then employ it against the
+over-spreading power of the pirates; with the pirates I will destroy the
+pirates. Y[)o] fu mow destroyed in this manner Yang tay: let us not act
+with duplicity, that we may the better disperse their comrades and break
+their power; let us therefore accept their submission."
+
+[Sidenote: Jan. 1810.]
+
+In the agreement it was stipulated that the ships should assemble
+together in the open sea near Kwei shen hëen[93] to make their
+surrender. The Governor-general was to come to that place[Sidenote: (13
+v.)] to receive O po tae, his vessels, his men, and all other things
+which were pointed out in the petition. The Governor-general being
+exceedingly pleased, ordered his adjutant Kung gaou to examine the list.
+He found eight thousand men, one hundred and twenty-six vessels, five
+hundred large guns, and five thousand six hundred various military
+weapons. The towns Yang keang and Sin gan were appointed for this people
+to live in.[94]--This happened in the twelfth month of the fourteenth
+year of Këa king--and so the black squadron was brought into subjection.
+O po tae changed his name to _He[)o] bëen_, "The lustre of instruction,"
+and the general made him a Pa tsung[95] to reward his services in
+defeating Chang paou.
+
+[Sidenote: 1810.]
+
+[sd: (14 r.)] On the twelfth moon Chang paou went with his different
+squadrons into the river and attacked Ke chow. It was near the end of
+the year, and the pirates assembled along the mountain ridge Laou ya[96]
+to make a festival: they made a great noise during the night with
+crackers, and their gongs were heard at a great distance.[97] At
+daybreak the flags were spread out, and the drums sounded; they were
+cheerful the whole day; they eat and drank and made a great noise, which
+was heard many les off.
+
+[Sidenote: 1810.]
+
+On the second day of the same month they attacked the village, and on
+the third day about ten men went on shore. The villagers made their
+escape, so that the pirates could not take them. [sd: (14 v.)] Having
+some time before made preparations to fortify Ma king yun.[98] they now
+retired to it. The pirates knowing that the villagers were well provided
+for defence, waited until they had every thing ready. On the fourth the
+pirates landed; it was in vain that the villagers opposed them, they had
+two men wounded, and were finally defeated. The Governor-general ordered
+Ching chuy loo to proceed at the head of a large body of soldiers to the
+town Shun tih, and prepare for an attack. Meeting the pirates at Ke
+chow, the Major attacking them on a sudden, the pirates sustained a
+great loss, and returned to their vessels. The Major also was struck by
+a shot from a musket. There were daily skirmishes at the neighbouring
+places; the inhabitants were generally defeated and ran away. The Major
+Loo came with his forces and placed them on the sea-coast behind the
+intrenchments of Sin ne, to protect them against the fire of the enemy.
+The guns of the pirates were directed against the place, the bullets
+fell in Sin ne, but without hurting any one, which again calmed and
+encouraged the inhabitants. [sd: (15 r.)] The pirates coming a second
+time before Ke chow and Ta leang, and not being able to accomplish their
+designs, thought fit to retire.
+
+[Sidenote: 1810.]
+
+The wife of Ching y[)i]h, on seeing that O po tae was made a government
+officer after his submission, and that he did well, thought also of
+making her submission. "I am," said she, "ten times stronger than O po
+tae, and government would perhaps, if I submit, act towards me as they
+did with O po tae." But remembering their former crimes, and the
+opposition they made to many officers, these pirates were apprehensive
+and felt undetermined in their resolutions. [sd: (15 v.)] A rumour went
+about, that the red squadron wished to tender their submission, and, in
+consequence, the vigilant magistrates hearing of this, invited them to
+do so. The magistrate of Tsze ne, Yu che chang, ordered a certain Fei
+hëung chow to make enquiries about the matter. Fei hëung chow was a
+physician of Macao, and being well acquainted with the pirates, he was
+not in need of any introduction to obtain access to them. This was the
+ground on which Yu chi chang particularly selected him, when he tried to
+bring the pirates to submission.
+
+When Fei hëung chow came to Paou, he said: "Friend Paou, do you know why
+I come to you?"
+
+Paou.--"Thou hast committed some crime and comest to me for protection?"
+
+Chow.--"By no means."
+
+[Sidenote: 1810.]
+
+Paou.--"You will then know, how it stands concerning the report about
+our submission, if it is true or false?"
+
+Chow.--"You are again wrong here, Sir.[99] What are you in comparison
+with O po tae?"
+
+Paou.--[sd: (16 r.)] "Who is bold enough to compare me with O po tae?"
+
+[Sidenote: 1810.]
+
+Chow.--"I know very well that O po tae could not come up to you, Sir;
+but I mean only, that since O po tae has made his submission, since he
+has got his pardon and been created a government officer,--how would it
+be, if you with your whole crew should also submit, and if his
+Excellency should desire to treat you in the same manner, and to give
+you the same rank as O po tae? Your submission would produce more joy
+to government than the submission of O po tae. You should not wait for
+wisdom to act wisely; you should make up your mind to submit to the
+government with all your followers. I will assist you in every
+respect,--it would be the means of securing your own happiness and the
+lives of all your adherents."
+
+[Sidenote: 1810.]
+
+_Chang paou_ remained like a statue without motion, and Fei hëung chow
+went on to say: [sd: (16 v.)] "You should think about this affair in
+time, and not stay till the last moment. Is it not clear that O po tae,
+since you could not agree together, has joined government. He being
+enraged against you, will fight, united with the forces of the
+government, for your destruction; and who could help you, so that you
+might overcome your enemies? If O po tae could before vanquish you quite
+alone, how much more can he now when he is united with government? O po
+tae will then satisfy his hatred against you, and you yourself will soon
+be taken either at Wei chow or at Neaou chow. [sd: (17 r.)] If the
+merchant-vessels of Hwy chaou, the boats of Kwang chow, and all the
+fishing-vessels unite together to surround and attack you in the open
+sea, you will certainly have enough to do. But even supposing they
+should not attack you, you will soon feel the want of provisions, to
+sustain you and all your followers. It is always wisdom to provide
+before things happen; stupidity and folly never think about future
+events. It is too late to reflect upon events when things have happened;
+you should, therefore, consider this matter in time!"
+
+Paou held a deliberation with the wife of Ching y[)i]h, and she said:
+"The Doctor Chow is certainly right in all that he says; Paou may agree
+with him." Paou then asked the Doctor: "Have you any commission about
+this matter, or not?" The Doctor answered, "How could I trifle with the
+sentiments of government; this would be declared an improper behaviour.
+[sd: (17 v.)] Neither can I see through the intentions of the wife of
+Ching y[)i]h nor through those of the officers of government; you can
+clear up all doubts, if you will collect your vessels about Shao kë[)o],
+outside the Bocca Tigris, you may yourself hear the orders."
+
+[Sidenote: 1810.]
+
+Paou consented to this proposal, and the Doctor returned to Yu che
+chang. Yu che chang acquainted the Governor-general with this matter.
+The general was anxious to meet the pirates and to clear the western
+passage, as he had already cleared the eastern passage; he therefore was
+very happy at hearing the offer of surrender. The magistrate of Tsze ne,
+Yu che chang, took the government proclamation and went to the pirates
+to see how things stood. The wife of Ching y[)i]h on seeing Yu che
+chang, ordered Chang paou to prepare a banquet. Chang paou explained his
+intentions. Yu che chang remained the whole night on board ship, and
+stated that government was willing to pardon them, and that they had
+nothing to fear after having made their submission. [sd: (18 r.)] Paou
+was very much rejoiced at this; and on the next morning he went with Yu
+che chang to inspect the vessels, and ordered all the captains to pay
+their respects to the government officer. The wife of Ching y[)i]h
+stated to Yu che chang that it was her earnest wish to submit to
+government; and Chang paou himself assured the officer of his firm
+intention to surrender without the least deceit. The governor then
+ordered Yu che chang to visit the pirates a second time, accompanied by
+Pang noo, in order to settle all with them regarding their submission.
+Chang paou requested that those pirates who had been condemned to death
+should be placed in ten vessels, in order that he might ransom them. Yu
+che chang reported this, and the Governor said: "It shall be so, whether
+Chang paou submit himself or not. But being exceedingly desirous that
+the pirates may surrender, I will go myself and state my intentions, to
+clear up all doubts."
+
+[Sidenote: 1810.]
+
+[sd: (18 v.)]He ordered the Doctor Fei hëung chow to acquaint the
+pirates with his design. The Governor-general then embarked in a vessel
+with Pang noo and Yu che chang to meet the pirates, where they were
+assembled;--their vessels occupied a space of about ten le. On hearing
+that the Governor-general was coming, they hoisted their flags, played
+on their instruments, and fired their guns, so that the smoke rose in
+clouds, and then went to meet him. From the other side the people all
+became alarmed, and the Governor-general himself was very much
+astonished, being yet uncertain what could be the meaning of all this
+alarm. Chang paou, accompanied by the wife of Ching y[)i]h, by Pang
+chang ching, Leang po paou, and Soo puh gaou, mounted the governor's
+ship, and rushed through the smoke to the place where the governor was
+stationed. [sd: (19 r.)] The Governor-general on seeing Paou and his
+followers falling on their hands and knees, that they shed tears on
+account of their former crimes, and sued penitently for their lives, was
+induced by his extreme kindness to declare that he would again point out
+to the rebels the road to virtue. Paou and his followers were extremely
+affected, knocked their heads on the ground, and swore that they were
+ready to suffer death. But the Governor replied: "Since you are ready to
+submit yourselves with a true heart, I will lay aside all arms and
+disperse the soldiery; to say it in one word, I give you three days to
+make up a list of your vessels and all your other possessions. Are you
+satisfied with this proposal or not?" Paou and his followers said "_yes,
+yes_," and retired accordingly.
+
+[Sidenote: 1810.]
+
+It happened that about the same time some Portuguese vessels were about
+to enter the Bocca Tigris, and that some large men-of-war took their
+station at the same place. The pirates became exceedingly alarmed at
+this fleet, and apprehended that the Governor had made an agreement with
+the foreign vessels to destroy them. [sd: (19 v.)] They immediately
+weighed their anchors and steered away. On seeing the pirates running
+away, Pang noo, Yu che chang, and the others, not knowing what could be
+the reason of all this, became afraid that they might have changed their
+mind, and that an attack on the Governor was contemplated. All parties
+became frightened that the meeting had failed, and made preparations to
+go off. The inhabitants of the neighbouring country hearing of this, ran
+away, and the Governor-general himself went back to Canton.
+
+[Sidenote: 1810.]
+
+When the pirates ascertained that the foreign vessels were traders going
+into the river, and that the Governor-general had no communication with
+them, they again became pacified. But considering that the
+Governor-general went back to Canton without the business of their
+submission being quite settled, they held a consultation together and
+Paou said: [sd: (20 r.)] "His Excellency is gone back, and probably in
+doubt about our intentions; if we tender our submission again, his
+Excellency will not trust us, and if we do not submit we shall insult
+the good intentions of government. What is to be done under these
+circumstances?"
+
+The wife of Ching y[)i]h said: "His Excellency behaved himself towards
+us in a candid manner, and in like manner we must behave towards him. We
+being driven about on the ocean, without having any fixed
+habitation;--pray let us go to Canton to inform government, to state the
+reason of the recoiling waves, to clear up all doubts, and to agree on
+what day or in what place we shall make our submission. His Excellency
+may then explain to us whether he will come a second time to accept our
+submission, or whether he will decline it."
+
+[Sidenote: 1810.]
+
+The whole crew was of opinion, that "the designs of government were
+unfathomable, and that it would not be prudent to go so hastily on." But
+the wife of Ching y[)i]h replied: [sd: (20 v.)] "If his Excellency, a
+man of the highest rank, could come quickly to us quite alone, why
+should I a mean woman not go to the officers of government? If there be
+any danger in it, I will take it on myself, no person among you will be
+required to trouble himself about it."
+
+Leang po paou said: "If the wife of Ching y[)i]h goes, we must fix a
+time when she shall return. If this time be past without our obtaining
+any certain information, we should collect all our forces and go before
+Canton.[100] This is my opinion; if you think otherwise, let us retire;
+but let me hear your opinion?" They all answered: "Friend Paou, we have
+heard thy opinion, but we think it rather better to wait for the news
+here on the water, than to send the wife of Ching y[)i]h alone to be
+killed." This was the result of the consultation.
+
+[Sidenote: 1810.]
+
+[sd: (21 r.)] Yu che chang and Fei hëung chow, on seeing that nothing
+was settled about the submission to government, became alarmed, and sent
+Chao kaou yuen to Chang paou to enquire what was the reason of it. On
+learning that they ran away from fear of the foreign vessels, Yu che
+chang and Fei hëung chow made another visit to the pirates, in order to
+correct this mistake.
+
+"If you let slip this opportunity," said they, "you will not be
+accepted, perhaps, should you even be willing to make your submission.
+The kindness of his Excellency is immense like the sea, without being
+mixed with any falsehood; we will pledge ourselves that the wife of
+Ching y[)i]h, if she would go, would be received with kindness."
+
+The wife of Ching y[)i]h said: "You speak well, gentlemen; I will go
+myself to Canton with some other ladies, accompanied by Yu che chang."
+
+Chang paou said, laughingly: [sd: (21 v.)] "I am sorry his Excellency
+should have any doubt regarding us, for this reason, therefore, we will
+send our wives to settle the affair for us."
+
+When the wives and children appeared before him, the Governor-general
+said to them: "You did not change your mind, but ran away, being
+deceived by a false impression; for this reason I will take no notice of
+it. I am commanded by the humanity of his Majesty's government not to
+kill but to pardon you; I therefore now pardon Chang paou."
+
+[Sidenote: 1810.]
+
+In consequence of this, Chang paou came with his wives and children, and
+with the wife of Ching y[)i]h, at Foo yung shao near the town of Hëang
+shan to submit himself to government. Every vessel was provided with
+pork and wine, and every man received at the same time a bill for a
+certain quantity of money. Those who wished it, could join the military
+force of government for pursuing the remaining pirates; and those who
+objected, dispersed and withdrew into the country. This is the manner by
+which the red squadron of the pirates was pacified.
+
+[Sidenote: 1810.]
+
+[sd: (22r.)] After the submission of Chang paou, the Governor-general
+said: "Now that we have cleared, both the eastern and the middle
+passage, we are ready to reduce the pirates of the western passage." He
+held a consultation about this matter with the deputy-governor Han fung,
+and then ordered the principal officer of the public granary, Mwan ching
+che, and the military commandant of Luy chow foo, Kang chow foo, and
+Këung chow foo, called Chuh url kang g[)i]h,[101] to proceed at the head
+of the forces and drive the pirates away. It was presumed that they
+would retire more westerly to Annam; a message was therefore sent to the
+king of that country to have ready an armed force to repulse the
+pirates, whenever they should appear on the rivers or on the
+mainland.[102] Chang paou was ordered on the vanguard.
+
+[Sidenote: 1810.]
+
+By the tenth day of the fourth moon the vessels and the crew were quite
+ready, and fell in on the twelfth of the same month with the yellow flag
+quite alone at Tse sing yang. Our commander valiantly attacked this
+squadron, and defeated it entirely. [sd: (22 v.)] The captain Le tsung
+chaou, with three hundred and ninety of his people, were taken
+prisoners. Meeting a division of the green flag, consisting of ten
+pirate vessels, our commander attacked them. The pirates being afraid,
+ran away; but our commander pursued after and killed them. Those who
+were taken alive were beheaded.
+
+[Sidenote: 1810.]
+
+On the tenth day of the fifth moon the Governor-general went to Kaou
+chow to make preparations for fighting. Our commander pursued after the
+pirates with a great and strong body of troops; he met Neaou sh[)i]h url
+at Tan chow, and they fought a great battle. Neaou sh[)i]h url saw that
+he was not strong enough to withstand them, and tried to escape; but the
+Major, Fei teaou hwang,[103] gave orders to surround the pirates. [sd:
+(23 r.)] They fought from seven o'clock in the morning till one at noon,
+burnt ten vessels, and killed an immense number of the pirates. Neaou
+sh[)i]h url was so weakened that he could scarcely make any opposition.
+On perceiving this through the smoke, Chang paou mounted on a sudden the
+vessel of the pirate, and cried out: "I Chang paou am come," and at the
+same moment he cut some pirates to pieces; the remainder were then
+hardly dealt with. Paou addressed himself in an angry tone to Neaou
+sh[)i]h url, and said: "I advise you to submit, will you not follow my
+advice, what have you to say?" Neaou sh[)i]h url was struck with
+amazement, and his courage left him. Leang po paou advanced and bound
+him, and the whole crew were then taken captives.
+
+[Sidenote: 1810.]
+
+[sd: (23 v.)] Seeing that Neaou sh[)i]h url was taken, his elder brother
+Yew kwei would have run away in all haste; but the admirals Tung and
+Tsuen mow sun pursued, attacked, and took him prisoner. The government
+officers Kung gao and Hoo tso chaou took the younger brother of Neaou
+sh[)i]h url, called Mih yew keih, and all the others then made their
+submission. Not long after this the _Scourge of the eastern ocean_
+surrendered voluntarily, on finding himself unable to withstand; the
+_Frog's meal_ withdrew to Luzon or Manilla. On the twentieth of the same
+month, the Governor-general came to Luy chow, and every officer was
+ordered to bring his prizes into the harbour or bay of Man ke. There
+were taken fighting five hundred pirates, men and women; three thousand
+four hundred and sixty made their submission; there were eighty-six
+vessels, two hundred and ninety-one guns, and one thousand three hundred
+and seventy-two pieces of various military weapons. [sd: (24 r.)] The
+Governor-general ordered one of his officers to kill[104] the pirate
+Neaou sh[)i]h url with eight others outside the northern entrance of Hae
+k[)a]ng hëen,[105] and to behead Hwang h[)o] with one hundred and
+nineteen of his followers. The _Scourge of the eastern sea_ submitting
+himself voluntarily was not put to death.
+
+[Sidenote: 1810.]
+
+There was much talk concerning a man at Hae k[)a]ng hëen, whose crime
+was of such a nature that it could not be overlooked. When this man was
+carried away to suffer death, his wife pressed him in her arms, and said
+with great demonstration of sorrow, "Because thou didst not follow my
+words, it is even thus. I said before what is now come to pass, that
+thou fighting as a pirate against the officers of government would be
+taken and put to death. This fills my mind with sorrow. [sd: (24 v.)] If
+thou hadst made thy submission like O po tae and Chang paou, thou
+wouldst have been pardoned like them; thou art now given up to the law,
+not by any power of man, but by the will of fate." Having finished these
+words, she cried exceedingly. The Governor-general was moved by these
+words, and commuted the punishment of that pirate into imprisonment.
+
+In this manner the western passage was cleared from the green, yellow,
+and blue squadrons, and smaller divisions. The rest of the pirates, who
+remained about Hae k[)a]ng, at Hae fung, at Suy ke and H[)o] poo, were
+gradually destroyed.[106] The Governor-general ordered Chuh url kang
+g[)i]h and Mwan ching che to go with an armed force and sweep away those
+pirates, who hid themselves in the recesses of Wei chow and Neaou chow.
+And thus finished this meritorious act of the _Pacification of the
+pirates_.
+
+[Sidenote: 1810.]
+
+[sd: (25 r.)] By an edict of the "Son of Heaven," the Governor-general
+of Kwang tung and Kwang se _Pih, ling_ was recompensed for his merits.
+He was created a secondary guardian of the Prince, allowed to wear
+peacock's-feathers with two eyes, and favoured with an hereditary title.
+The services of the different officers and commanders were taken into
+consideration, and they received adequate recompenses. Chang paou was
+appointed to the rank of Major; Tung hae pa, or, the Scourge of the
+eastern sea, and all others, were pardoned, with the permission to
+retire wherever they wished. From that period till now ships pass and
+repass in tranquillity. All is quiet on the rivers, the four seas are
+tranquil, and people live in peace and plenty.
+
+
+
+
+                              APPENDIX.
+
+
+The Translator supposing that the readers of the _History of the
+Chinese Pirates_ might perhaps find it interesting to compare the
+account of the followers of _The wife of Ching y[)i]h_, drawn up by an
+European, with the statements of the non-official Chinese historian;
+he has therefore thought fit to subjoin a _Narrative of the captivity
+and treatment amongst the Ladrones_, written by Mr. Richard
+Glasspoole, of the Hon. Company's ship _Marquis of Ely_, and published
+in _Wilkinson's Travels to China_. The Translator in vain endeavoured
+to obtain another Narrative, regarding the Chinese pirates, which is
+said to be printed in an English periodical.
+
+
+     _A brief Narrative of my captivity and treatment amongst the
+                              Ladrones._
+
+On the 17th of September 1809, the Honourable Company's ship Marquis
+of Ely anchored under the Island of _Sam Chow_, in China, about twelve
+English miles from Macao, where I was ordered to proceed in one of
+our cutters to procure a pilot, and also to land the purser with the
+packet. I left the ship at 5 P.M. with seven men under my command,
+well armed. It blew a fresh gale from the N. E. We arrived at Macao at
+9 P.M., where I delivered the packet to Mr. Roberts, and sent the men
+with the boat's-sails to sleep under the Company's Factory, and left
+the boat in charge of one of the Compradore's men; during the night
+the gale increased.--At half-past three in the morning I went to the
+beach, and found the boat on shore half-filled with water, in
+consequence of the man having left her. I called the people, and baled
+her out; found she was considerably damaged, and very leaky. At
+half-past 5 A.M., the ebb-tide making, we left Macao with vegetables
+for the ship.
+
+One of the Compradore's men who spoke English went with us for the
+purpose of piloting the ship to _Lintin_, as the Mandarines, in
+consequence of a late disturbance at Macao, would not grant chops for
+the regular pilots. I had every reason to expect the ship in the
+roads, as she was preparing to get under weigh when we left her; but
+on our rounding Cabaretta-Point, we saw her five or six miles to
+leeward, under weigh, standing on the starboard-tack: it was then
+blowing fresh at N. E. Bore up, and stood towards her; when about a
+cable's-length to windward of her, she tacked; we hauled our wind and
+stood after her. A hard squall then coming on, with a strong tide and
+heavy swell against us, we drifted fast to leeward, and the weather
+being hazy, we soon lost sight of the ship. Struck our masts, and
+endeavoured to pull; finding our efforts useless, set a reefed
+foresail and mizen, and stood towards a country-ship at anchor under
+the land to leeward of Cabaretta-Point. When within a quarter of a
+mile of her she weighed and made sail, leaving us in a very critical
+situation, having no anchor, and drifting bodily on the rocks to
+leeward. Struck the masts: after four or five hours hard pulling,
+succeeded in clearing them.
+
+At this time not a ship in sight; the weather clearing up, we saw a
+ship to leeward, hull down, shipped our masts, and made sail towards
+her; she proved to be the Honourable Company's ship Glatton. We made
+signals to her with our handkerchiefs at the mast-head, she
+unfortunately took no notice of them, but tacked and stood from us.
+Our situation was now truly distressing, night closing fast, with a
+threatening appearance, blowing fresh, with hard rain and a heavy sea;
+our boat very leaky, without a compass, anchor or provisions, and
+drifting fast on a lee-shore, surrounded with dangerous rocks, and
+inhabited by the most barbarous pirates. I close-reefed my sails, and
+kept tack and tack 'till day-light, when we were happy to find we had
+drifted very little to leeward of our situation in the evening. The
+night was very dark, with constant hard squalls and heavy rain.
+
+Tuesday the 19th no ships in sight. About ten o'clock in the morning
+it fell calm, with very hard rain and a heavy swell;--struck our masts
+and pulled, not being able to see the land, steered by the swell. When
+the weather broke up, found we had drifted several miles to leeward.
+During the calm a fresh breeze springing up, made sail, and
+endeavoured to reach the weather-shore, and anchor with six muskets we
+had lashed together for that purpose. Finding the boat made no way
+against the swell and tide, bore up for a bay to leeward, and anchored
+about one A.M. close under the land in five or six fathoms water,
+blowing fresh, with hard rain.
+
+Wednesday the 20th at day-light, supposing the flood-tide making,
+weighed and stood over to the weather-land, but found we were drifting
+fast to leeward. About ten o'clock perceived two Chinese boats
+steering for us. Bore up, and stood towards them, and made signals to
+induce them to come within hail; on nearing them, they bore up, and
+passed to leeward of the islands. The Chinese we had in the boat
+advised me to follow them, and he would take us to Macao by the
+leeward passage. I expressed my fears of being taken by the Ladrones.
+Our ammunition being wet, and the muskets rendered useless, we had
+nothing to defend ourselves with but cutlasses, and in too distressed
+a situation to make much resistance with them, having been constantly
+wet, and eat nothing but a few green oranges for three days.
+
+As our present situation was a hopeless one, and the man assured me
+there was no fear of encountering any Ladrones, I complied with his
+request, and stood in to leeward of the islands, where we found the
+water much smoother, and apparently a direct passage to Macao. We
+continued pulling and sailing all day. At six o'clock in the evening I
+discovered three large boats at anchor in a bay to leeward. On seeing
+us they weighed and made sail towards us. The Chinese said they were
+Ladrones, and that if they captured us they would most certainly put
+us all to death! Finding they gained fast on us, struck the masts, and
+pulled head to wind for five or six hours. The tide turning against
+us, anchored close under the land to avoid being seen. Soon after we
+saw the boats pass us to leeward.
+
+Thursday the 21st, at day-light, the flood making, weighed and pulled
+along shore in great spirits, expecting to be at Macao in two or three
+hours, as by the Chinese account it was not above six or seven miles
+distant. After pulling a mile or two perceived several people on
+shore, standing close to the beach; they were armed with pikes and
+lances. I ordered the interpreter to hail them, and ask the most
+direct passage to Macao. They said if we came on shore they would
+inform us; not liking their hostile appearance I did not think proper
+to comply with the request. Saw a large fleet of boats at anchor close
+under the opposite shore. Our interpreter said they were
+fishing-boats, and that by going there we should not only get
+provisions, but a pilot also to take us to Macao.
+
+I bore up, and on nearing them perceived there were some large
+vessels, very full of men, and mounted with several guns. I hesitated
+to approach nearer; but the Chinese assuring me they were Mandarine
+junks[107] and salt-boats, we stood close to one of them, and asked
+the way to Macao? They gave no answer, but made some signs to us to go
+in shore. We passed on, and a large row-boat pulled after us; she soon
+came along-side, when about twenty savage-looking villains, who were
+stowed at the bottom of the boat, leaped on board us. They were armed
+with a short sword in each hand, one of which they laid on our necks,
+and the other pointed to our breasts, keeping their eyes fixed on
+their officer, waiting his signal to cut or desist. Seeing we were
+incapable of making any resistance, he sheathed his sword, and the
+others immediately followed his example. They then dragged us into
+their boat, and carried us on board one of their junks, with the most
+savage demonstrations of joy, and as we supposed, to torture and put
+us to a cruel death. When on board the junk, they searched all our
+pockets, took the handkerchiefs from our necks, and brought heavy
+chains to chain us to the guns.
+
+At this time a boat came, and took me, with one of my men and the
+interpreter, on board the chief's vessel. I was then taken before the
+chief. He was seated on deck, in a large chair, dressed in purple
+silk, with a black turban on. He appeared to be about thirty years of
+age, a stout commanding-looking man. He took me by the coat, and drew
+me close to him; then questioned the interpreter very strictly, asking
+who we were, and what was our business in that part of the country. I
+told him to say we were Englishmen in distress, having been four days
+at sea without provisions. This he would not credit, but said we were
+bad men, and that he would put us all to death; and then ordered some
+men to put the interpreter to the torture until he confessed the
+truth.
+
+Upon this occasion, a Ladrone, who had been once to England and spoke
+a few words of English, came to the chief, and told him we were really
+Englishmen, and that we had plenty of money, adding, that the buttons
+on my coat were gold. The chief then ordered us some coarse brown
+rice, of which we made a tolerable meal, having eat nothing for nearly
+four days, except a few green oranges. During our repast, a number of
+Ladrones crowded round us, examining our clothes and hair, and giving
+us every possible annoyance. Several of them brought swords, and laid
+them on our necks, making signs that they would soon take us on shore,
+and cut us in pieces, which I am sorry to say was the fate of some
+hundreds during my captivity.
+
+I was now summoned before the chief, who had been conversing with the
+interpreter; he said I must write to my captain, and tell him, if he
+did not send an hundred thousand dollars for our ransom, in ten days
+he would put us all to death. In vain did I assure him it was useless
+writing unless he would agree to take a much smaller sum; saying we
+were all poor men, and the most we could possibly raise would not
+exceed two thousand dollars. Finding that he was much exasperated at
+my expostulations, I embraced the offer of writing to inform my
+commander of our unfortunate situation, though there appeared not the
+least probability of relieving us. They said the letter should be
+conveyed to Macao in a fishing-boat, which would bring an answer in
+the morning. A small boat accordingly came alongside, and took the
+letter.
+
+About six o'clock in the evening they gave us some rice and a little
+salt fish, which we eat, and they made signs for us to lay down on the
+deck to sleep; but such numbers of Ladrones were constantly coming
+from different vessels to see us, and examine our clothes and hair,
+they would not allow us a moment's quiet. They were particularly
+anxious for the buttons of my coat, which were new, and as they
+supposed gold. I took it off, and laid it on the deck to avoid being
+disturbed by them; it was taken away in the night, and I saw it on the
+next day stripped of its buttons.
+
+About nine o'clock a boat came and hailed the chief's vessel; he
+immediately hoisted his mainsail, and the fleet weighed apparently in
+great confusion. They worked to windward all night and part of the
+next day, and anchored about one o'clock in a bay under the island of
+Lantow, where the head admiral of Ladrones was lying at anchor, with
+about two hundred vessels and a Portuguese brig they had captured a
+few days before, and murdered the captain and part of the crew.
+
+Saturday the 23d, early in the morning, a fishing-boat came to the
+fleet to inquire if they had captured an European boat; being answered
+in the affirmative, they came to the vessel I was in. One of them
+spoke a few words of English, and told me he had a Ladrone-pass, and
+was sent by Captain Kay in search of us; I was rather surprised to
+find he had no letter. He appeared to be well acquainted with the
+chief, and remained in his cabin smoking opium, and playing cards all
+the day.[108]
+
+In the evening I was summoned with the interpreter before the chief.
+He questioned us in a much milder tone, saying, he now believed we
+were Englishmen, a people he wished to be friendly with; and that if
+our captain would lend him seventy thousand dollars 'till he returned
+from his cruize up the river, he would repay him, and send us all to
+Macao. I assured him it was useless writing on those terms, and unless
+our ransom was speedily settled, the English fleet would sail, and
+render our enlargement altogether ineffectual. He remained determined,
+and said if it were not sent, he would keep us, and make us fight, or
+put us to death. I accordingly wrote, and gave my letter to the man
+belonging to the boat before-mentioned. He said he could not return
+with an answer in less than five days.
+
+The chief now gave me the letter I wrote when first taken. I have
+never been able to ascertain his reasons for detaining it, but suppose
+he dare not negotiate for our ransom without orders from the head
+admiral, who I understood was sorry at our being captured. He said the
+English ships would join the mandarines and attack them.[109] He told
+the chief that captured us, to dispose of us as he pleased.
+
+Monday the 24th, it blew a strong gale, with constant hard rain; we
+suffered much from the cold and wet, being obliged to remain on deck
+with no covering but an old mat, which was frequently taken from us in
+the night, by the Ladrones who were on watch. During the night the
+Portuguese who were left in the brig murdered the Ladrones that were
+on board of her, cut the cables, and fortunately escaped through the
+darkness of the night. I have since been informed they run her on
+shore near Macao.
+
+Tuesday the 25th, at day-light in the morning, the fleet, amounting to
+about five hundred sail of different sizes, weighed, to proceed on
+their intended cruize up the rivers, to levy contributions on the
+towns and villages. It is impossible to describe what were my
+feelings at this critical time, having received no answers to my
+letters, and the fleet under-way to sail,--hundreds of miles up a
+country never visited by Europeans, there to remain probably for many
+months, which would render all opportunities of negotiating for our
+enlargement totally ineffectual; as the only method of communication
+is by boats, that have a pass from the Ladrones, and they dare not
+venture above twenty miles from Macao, being obliged to come and go in
+the night, to avoid the Mandarines; and if these boats should be
+detected in having any intercourse with the Ladrones, they are
+immediately put to death, and all their relations, though they had not
+joined in the crime,[110] share in the punishment, in order that not a
+single person of their families should be left to imitate their crimes
+or revenge their death. This severity renders communication both
+dangerous and expensive; no boat would venture out for less than a
+hundred Spanish dollars.
+
+Wednesday the 26th, at day-light, we passed in sight of our ships at
+anchor under the island of Chun Po. The chief then called me, pointed
+to the ships, and told the interpreter to tell us to look at them, for
+we should never see them again. About noon we entered a river to the
+westward of the Bogue,[111] three or four miles from the entrance. We
+passed a large town situated on the side of a beautiful hill, which is
+tributary to the Ladrones; the inhabitants saluted them with songs as
+they passed.
+
+The fleet now divided into two squadrons (the red and the black)[112]
+and sailed up different branches of the river. At midnight the
+division we were in anchored close to an immense hill, on the top of
+which a number of fires were burning, which at day-light I perceived
+proceeded from a Chinese camp. At the back of the hill was a most
+beautiful town, surrounded by water, and embellished with groves of
+orange-trees. The chop-house (custom-house)[113] and a few cottages
+were immediately plundered, and burnt down; most of the inhabitants,
+however, escaped to the camp.
+
+The Ladrones now prepared to attack the town with a formidable force,
+collected in row boats from the different vessels. They sent a
+messenger to the town, demanding a tribute of ten thousand dollars
+annually, saying, if these terms were not complied with, they would
+land, destroy the town, and murder all the inhabitants; which they
+would certainly have done, had the town laid in a more advantageous
+situation for their purpose; but being placed out of the reach of
+their shot, they allowed them to come to terms. The inhabitants agreed
+to pay six thousand dollars, which they were to collect by the time of
+our return down the river. This finesse had the desired effect, for
+during our absence they mounted a few guns on a hill, which commanded
+the passage, and gave us in lieu of the dollars a warm salute on our
+return.
+
+October the 1st, the fleet weighed in the night, dropped by the tide
+up the river, and anchored very quietly before a town surrounded by a
+thick wood. Early in the morning the Ladrones assembled in row-boats,
+and landed; then gave a shout, and rushed into the town, sword in
+hand. The inhabitants fled to the adjacent hills, in numbers
+apparently superior to the Ladrones. We may easily imagine to
+ourselves the horror with which these miserable people must be seized,
+on being obliged to leave their homes, and every thing dear to them.
+It was a most melancholy sight to see women in tears, clasping their
+infants in their arms, and imploring mercy for them from those brutal
+robbers! The old and the sick, who were unable to fly, or to make
+resistance, were either made prisoners or most inhumanly butchered!
+The boats continued passing and repassing from the junks to the shore,
+in quick succession, laden with booty, and the men besmeared with
+blood! Two hundred and fifty women, and several children, were made
+prisoners, and sent on board different vessels. They were unable to
+escape with the men, owing to that abominable practice of cramping
+their feet: several of them were not able to move without assistance,
+in fact, they might all be said to totter, rather than walk. Twenty of
+these poor women were sent on board the vessel I was in; they were
+hauled on board by the hair, and treated in a most savage manner.
+
+When the chief came on board, he questioned them respecting the
+circumstances of their friends, and demanded ransoms accordingly, from
+six thousand to six hundred dollars each. He ordered them a berth on
+deck, at the after-part of the vessel, where they had nothing to
+shelter them from the weather, which at this time was very
+variable,--the days excessively hot, and the nights cold, with heavy
+rains. The town being plundered of every thing valuable, it was set on
+fire, and reduced to ashes by the morning. The fleet remained here
+three days, negotiating for the ransom of the prisoners, and
+plundering the fish-tanks and gardens. During all this time, the
+Chinese never ventured from the hills, though there were frequently
+not more than a hundred Ladrones on shore at a time, and I am sure the
+people on the hills exceeded ten times that number.[114]
+
+October the 5th, the fleet proceeded up another branch of the river,
+stopping at several small villages to receive tribute, which was
+generally paid in dollars, sugar and rice, with a few large pigs
+roasted whole, as presents for their joss (the idol they
+worship).[115] Every person on being ransomed, is obliged to present
+him with a pig, or some fowls, which the priest offers him with
+prayers; it remains before him a few hours, and is then divided
+amongst the crew. Nothing particular occurred 'till the 10th, except
+frequent skirmishes on shore between small parties of Ladrones and
+Chinese soldiers. They frequently obliged my men to go on shore, and
+fight with the muskets we had when taken, which did great execution,
+the Chinese principally using bows and arrows. They have match-locks,
+but use them very unskilfully.
+
+On the 10th, we formed a junction with the Black-squadron, and
+proceeded many miles up a wide and beautiful river, passing several
+ruins of villages that had been destroyed by the Black-squadron. On
+the 17th, the fleet anchored abreast four mud batteries, which
+defended a town, so entirely surrounded with wood that it was
+impossible to form any idea of its size. The weather was very hazy,
+with hard squalls of rain. The Ladrones remained perfectly quiet for
+two days. On the third day the forts commenced a brisk fire for
+several hours: the Ladrones did not return a single shot, but weighed
+in the night and dropped down the river.
+
+The reasons they gave for not attacking the town, or returning the
+fire, were, that Joss had not promised them success. They are very
+superstitious, and consult their idol on all occasions. If his omens
+are good, they will undertake the most daring enterprizes.
+
+The fleet now anchored opposite the ruins of the town where the women
+had been made prisoners. Here we remained five or six days, during
+which time about an hundred of the women were ransomed; the remainder
+were offered for sale amongst the Ladrones, for forty dollars each.
+The woman is considered the lawful wife of the purchaser, who would be
+put to death if he discarded her. Several of them leaped over-board
+and drowned themselves, rather than submit to such infamous
+degradation.[116]
+
+The fleet then weighed and made sail down the river, to receive the
+ransom from the town before-mentioned. As we passed the hill, they
+fired several shot at us, but without effect. The Ladrones were much
+exasperated, and determined to revenge themselves; they dropped out of
+reach of their shot, and anchored. Every junk sent about a hundred men
+each on shore, to cut paddy, and destroy their orange-groves, which
+was most effectually performed for several miles down the river.
+During our stay here, they received information of nine boats lying up
+a creek, laden with paddy; boats were immediately dispatched after
+them.
+
+Next morning these boats were brought to the fleet; ten or twelve men
+were taken in them. As these had made no resistance, the chief said he
+would allow them to become Ladrones, if they agreed to take the usual
+oaths before Joss. Three or four of them refused to comply, for which
+they were punished in the following cruel manner: their hands were
+tied behind their back, a rope from the mast-head rove through their
+arms, and hoisted three or four feet from the deck, and five or six
+men flogged them with three rattans twisted together 'till they were
+apparently dead; then hoisted them up to the mast-head, and left them
+hanging nearly an hour, then lowered them down, and repeated the
+punishment, 'till they died or complied with the oath.
+
+October the 20th, in the night, an express-boat came with the
+information that a large mandarine fleet was proceeding up the river
+to attack us. The chief immediately weighed, with fifty of the largest
+vessels, and sailed down the river to meet them. About one in the
+morning they commenced a heavy fire till day-light, when an express
+was sent for the remainder of the fleet to join them: about an hour
+after a counter-order to anchor came, the mandarine-fleet having run.
+Two or three hours afterwards the chief returned with three captured
+vessels in tow, having sunk two, and eighty-three sail made their
+escape. The admiral of the mandarines blew his vessel up, by throwing
+a lighted match into the magazine as the Ladrones were boarding her;
+she ran on shore, and they succeeded in getting twenty of her guns.
+
+In this action very few prisoners were taken: the men belonging to the
+captured vessels drowned themselves, as they were sure of suffering a
+lingering and cruel death if taken after making resistance. The
+admiral left the fleet in charge of his brother, the second in
+command, and proceeded with his own vessel towards Lantow. The fleet
+remained in this river, cutting paddy, and getting the necessary
+supplies.
+
+On the 28th of October, I received a letter from Captain Kay, brought
+by a fisherman, who had told him he would get us all back for three
+thousand dollars. He advised me to offer three thousand, and if not
+accepted, extend it to four; but not farther, as it was bad policy to
+offer much at first: at the same time assuring me we should be
+liberated, let the ransom be what it would. I offered the chief the
+three thousand, which he disdainfully refused, saying he was not to be
+played with; and unless they sent ten thousand dollars, and two large
+guns, with several casks of gunpowder, he would soon put us all to
+death. I wrote to Captain Kay, and informed him of the chief's
+determination, requesting if an opportunity offered, to send us a
+shift of clothes, for which it may be easily imagined we were much
+distressed, having been seven weeks without a shift; although
+constantly exposed to the weather, and of course frequently wet.
+
+On the first of November, the fleet sailed up a narrow river, and
+anchored at night within two miles of a town called Little Whampoa. In
+front of it was a small fort, and several mandarine vessels lying in
+the harbour. The chief sent the interpreter to me, saying, I must
+order my men to make cartridges and clean their muskets, ready to go
+on shore in the morning. I assured the interpreter I should give the
+men no such orders, that they must please themselves. Soon after the
+chief came on board, threatening to put us all to a cruel death if we
+refused to obey his orders. For my own part I remained determined, and
+advised the men not to comply, as I thought by making ourselves useful
+we should be accounted too valuable.
+
+A few hours afterwards he sent to me again, saying, that if myself and
+the quarter-master would assist them at the great guns, that if also
+the rest of the men went on shore and succeeded in taking the place,
+he would then take the money offered for our ransom, and give them
+twenty dollars for every Chinaman's head they cut off. To these
+proposals we cheerfully acceded, in hopes of facilitating our
+deliverance.
+
+Early in the morning the forces intended for landing were assembled in
+row-boats, amounting in the whole to three or four thousand men. The
+largest vessels weighed, and hauled in shore, to cover the landing of
+the forces, and attack the fort and mandarine-vessels. About nine
+o'clock the action commenced, and continued with great spirit for
+nearly an hour, when the walls of the fort gave way, and the men
+retreated in the greatest confusion.
+
+The mandarine vessels still continued firing, having blocked up the
+entrance of the harbour to prevent the Ladrone boats entering. At this
+the Ladrones were much exasperated, and about three hundred of them
+swam on shore, with a short sword lashed close under each arm; they
+then ran along the banks of the river 'till they came a-breast of the
+vessels, and then swam off again and boarded them. The Chinese thus
+attacked, leaped over-board, and endeavoured to reach the opposite
+shore; the Ladrones followed, and cut the greater number of them to
+pieces in the water. They next towed the vessels out of the harbour,
+and attacked the town with increased fury. The inhabitants fought
+about a quarter of an hour, and then retreated to an adjacent hill,
+from which they were soon driven with great slaughter.
+
+After this the Ladrones returned, and plundered the town, every boat
+leaving it when laden. The Chinese on the hills perceiving most of the
+boats were off, rallied, and retook the town, after killing near two
+hundred Ladrones. One of my men was unfortunately lost in this
+dreadful massacre! The Ladrones landed a second time, drove the
+Chinese out of the town, then reduced it to ashes, and put all their
+prisoners to death, without regarding either age or sex!
+
+I must not omit to mention a most horrid (though ludicrous)
+circumstance which happened at this place. The Ladrones were paid by
+their chief ten dollars for every Chinaman's head they produced. One
+of my men turning the corner of a street was met by a Ladrone running
+furiously after a Chinese; he had a drawn sword in his hand, and two
+Chinaman's heads which he had cut off, tied by their tails, and slung
+round his neck. I was witness myself to some of them producing five or
+six to obtain payment!!!
+
+On the 4th of November an order arrived from the admiral for the fleet
+to proceed immediately to Lantow, where he was lying with only two
+vessels, and three Portuguese ships and a brig constantly annoying
+him; several sail of mandarine vessels were daily expected. The fleet
+weighed and proceeded towards Lantow. On passing the island of Lintin,
+three ships and a brig gave chase to us. The Ladrones prepared to
+board; but night closing we lost sight of them: I am convinced they
+altered their course and stood from us. These vessels were in the pay
+of the Chinese government, and style themselves the Invincible
+Squadron, cruizing in the river Tigris to annihilate the Ladrones!
+
+On the fifth, in the morning, the red squadron anchored in a bay under
+Lantow; the black squadron stood to the eastward. In this bay they
+hauled several of their vessels on shore to bream their bottoms and
+repair them.
+
+In the afternoon of the 8th of November, four ships, a brig and a
+schooner came off the mouth of the bay. At first the pirates were much
+alarmed, supposing them to be English vessels come to rescue us. Some
+of them threatened to hang us to the mast-head for them to fire at;
+and with much difficulty we persuaded them that they were Portuguese.
+The Ladrones had only seven junks in a fit state for action; these
+they hauled outside, and moored them head and stern across the bay;
+and manned all the boats belonging to the repairing vessels ready for
+boarding.
+
+The Portuguese observing these man[oe]uvres hove to, and communicated
+by boats. Soon afterwards they made sail, each ship firing her
+broadside as she passed, but without effect, the shot falling far
+short: The Ladrones did not return a single shot, but waved their
+colours, and threw up rockets, to induce them to come further in,
+which they might easily have done, the outside junks lying in four
+fathoms water which I sounded myself: though the Portuguese in their
+letters to Macao, lamented there was not sufficient water for them to
+engage closer, but that they would certainly prevent their escaping
+before the mandarine fleet arrived!
+
+On the 20th of November, early in the morning, discovered an immense
+fleet of mandarine vessels standing for the bay. On nearing us, they
+formed a line, and stood close in; each vessel as she discharged her
+guns tacked to join the rear and reload. They kept up a constant fire
+for about two hours, when one of their largest vessels was blown up by
+a firebrand thrown from a Ladrone junk; after which they kept at a
+more respectful distance, but continued firing without intermission
+'till the 21st at night, when it fell calm.
+
+The Ladrones towed out seven large vessels, with about two hundred
+row-boats to board them; but a breeze springing up, they made sail and
+escaped. The Ladrones returned into the bay, and anchored. The
+Portuguese and mandarines followed, and continued a heavy cannonading
+during that night and the next day. The vessel I was in had her
+foremast shot away, which they supplied very expeditiously by taking a
+mainmast from a smaller vessel.
+
+On the 23d, in the evening, it again fell calm; the Ladrones towed out
+fifteen junks in two divisions, with the intention of surrounding
+them, which was nearly effected, having come up with and boarded one,
+when a breeze suddenly sprung up. The captured vessel mounted
+twenty-two guns. Most of her crew leaped overboard; sixty or seventy
+were taken immediately, cut to pieces and thrown into the river. Early
+in the morning the Ladrones returned into the bay, and anchored in the
+same situation as before. The Portuguese and mandarines followed,
+keeping up a constant fire. The Ladrones never returned a single shot,
+but always kept in readiness to board, and the Portuguese were careful
+never to allow them an opportunity.
+
+On the 28th, at night, they sent in eight fire-vessels, which if
+properly constructed must have done great execution, having every
+advantage they could wish for to effect their purpose; a strong breeze
+and tide directly into the bay, and the vessels lying so close
+together that it was impossible to miss them. On their first
+appearance the Ladrones gave a general shout, supposing them to be
+mandarine vessels[117] on fire, but were very soon convinced of their
+mistake. They came very regularly into the centre of the fleet, two
+and two, burning furiously; one of them came alongside of the vessel I
+was in, but they succeeded in booming her off. She appeared to be a
+vessel of about thirty tons; her hold was filled with straw and wood,
+and there were a few small boxes of combustibles on her deck, which
+exploded alongside of us without doing any damage. The Ladrones,
+however, towed them all on shore, extinguished the fire, and broke
+them up for fire-wood. The Portuguese claim the credit of constructing
+these destructive machines, and actually sent a dispatch to the
+Governor of Macao, saying they had destroyed at least one-third of the
+Ladrones' fleet, and hoped soon to effect their purpose by totally
+annihilating them.
+
+On the 29th of November, the Ladrones being all ready for sea, they
+weighed and stood boldly out, bidding defiance to the invincible
+squadron and imperial fleet, consisting of ninety-three war-junks, six
+Portuguese ships, a brig, and a schooner. Immediately the Ladrones
+weighed, they made all sail. The Ladrones chased them two or three
+hours, keeping up a constant fire; finding they did not come up with
+them, they hauled their wind and stood to the eastward.
+
+Thus terminated the boasted blockade, which lasted nine days, during
+which time the Ladrones completed all their repairs. In this action
+not a single Ladrone vessel was destroyed, and their loss about thirty
+or forty men. An American was also killed, one of three that remained
+out of eight taken in a schooner. I had two very narrow escapes: the
+first, a twelve-pounder shot fell within three or four feet of me;
+another took a piece out of a small brass-swivel on which I was
+standing. The chief's wife[118] frequently sprinkled me with
+garlic-water, which they consider an effectual charm against shot. The
+fleet continued under sail all night, steering towards the eastward.
+In the morning they anchored in a large bay surrounded by lofty and
+barren mountains.
+
+On the 2nd of December I received a letter from Lieutenant Maughn,
+commander of the Honourable Company's cruizer Antelope, saying that he
+had the ransom on board, and had been three days cruizing after us,
+and wished me to settle with the chief on the securest method of
+delivering it. The chief agreed to send us in a small gun-boat, 'till
+we came within sight of the Antelope; then the Compradore's boat was
+to bring the ransom and receive us.
+
+I was so agitated at receiving this joyful news, that it was with
+considerable difficulty I could scrawl about two or three lines to
+inform Lieutenant Maughn of the arrangements I had made. We were all
+so deeply affected by the gratifying tidings, that we seldom closed
+our eyes, but continued watching day and night for the boat. On the
+6th she returned with Lieutenant Maughn's answer, saying, he would
+respect any single boat; but would not allow the fleet to approach
+him. The chief then, according to his first proposal, ordered a
+gun-boat to take us, and with no small degree of pleasure we left the
+Ladrone fleet about four o'clock in the morning.
+
+At one P.M. saw the Antelope under all sail, standing toward us. The
+Ladrone boat immediately anchored, and dispatched the Compradore's
+boat for the ransom, saying, that if she approached nearer, they would
+return to the fleet; and they were just weighing when she shortened
+sail, and anchored about two miles from us. The boat did not reach her
+'till late in the afternoon, owing to the tide's being strong against
+her. She received the ransom and left the Antelope just before dark. A
+mandarine boat that had been lying concealed under the land, and
+watching their man[oe]uvres, gave chace to her, and was within a few
+fathoms of taking her, when she saw a light, which the Ladrones
+answered, and the Mandarine hauled off.
+
+Our situation was now a most critical one; the ransom was in the hands
+of the Ladrones, and the Compradore dare not return with us for fear
+of a second attack from the mandarine boat. The Ladrones would not
+remain 'till morning, so we were obliged to return with them to the
+fleet.
+
+In the morning the chief inspected the ransom, which consisted of the
+following articles: two bales of superfine scarlet cloth; two chests
+of opium; two casks of gunpowder; and a telescope; the rest in
+dollars. He objected to the telescope not being new; and said he
+should detain one of us 'till another was sent, or a hundred dollars
+in lieu of it. The Compradore however agreed with him for the hundred
+dollars.
+
+Every thing being at length settled, the chief ordered two gun-boats
+to convey us near the Antelope; we saw her just before dusk, when the
+Ladrone boats left us. We had the inexpressible pleasure of arriving
+on board the Antelope at 7 P.M., where we were most cordially
+received, and heartily congratulated on our safe and happy deliverance
+from a miserable captivity, which we had endured for eleven weeks and
+three days.
+
+                     (Signed) RICHARD GLASSPOOLE.
+
+  CHINA, December 8th, 1809.
+
+
+ _A few Remarks on the Origin, Progress, Manners, and Customs of the
+                              Ladrones._
+
+The Ladrones are a disaffected race of Chinese, that revolted against
+the oppressions of the mandarines.--They first commenced their
+depredations on the Western coast (Cochin-China), by attacking small
+trading vessels in row-boats, carrying from thirty to forty men each.
+They continued this system of piracy several years; at length their
+successes, and the oppressive state of the Chinese, had the effect of
+rapidly increasing their numbers. Hundreds of fishermen and others
+flocked to their standard; and as their number increased they
+consequently became more desperate. They blockaded all the principal
+rivers, and attacked several large junks, mounting from ten to fifteen
+guns each.
+
+With these junks they formed a very formidable fleet, and no small
+vessels could trade on the coast with safety. They plundered several
+small villages, and exercised such wanton barbarity as struck horror
+into the breasts of the Chinese. To check these enormities the
+government equipped a fleet of forty imperial war-junks, mounting from
+eighteen to twenty guns each. On the very first rencontre,
+twenty-eight of the imperial junks struck to the pirates; the rest
+saved themselves by a precipitate retreat.
+
+These junks, fully equipped for war, were a great acquisition to them.
+Their numbers augmented so rapidly, that at the period of my captivity
+they were supposed to amount to near seventy thousand men, eight
+hundred large vessels, and nearly a thousand small ones, including
+row-boats. They were divided into five squadrons, distinguished by
+different coloured flags: each squadron commanded by an admiral, or
+chief; but all under the orders of A-juo-chay (Ching y[)i]h saou),
+their premier chief, a most daring and enterprising man, who went so
+far as to declare his intention of displacing the present Tartar
+family from the throne of China, and to restore the ancient Chinese
+dynasty.
+
+This extraordinary character would have certainly shaken the
+foundation of the government, had he not been thwarted by the jealousy
+of the second in command, who declared his independence, and soon
+after surrendered to the mandarines with five hundred vessels, on
+promise of a pardon. Most of the inferior chiefs followed his example.
+A-juo-Chay (Ching y[)i]h saou) held out a few months longer, and at
+length surrendered with sixteen thousand men, on condition of a
+general pardon, and himself to be made a mandarine of distinction.
+
+The Ladrones have no settled residence on shore, but live constantly
+in their vessels. The after-part is appropriated to the captain and
+his wives; he generally has five or six. With respect to conjugal
+rights they are religiously strict; no person is allowed to have a
+woman on board, unless married to her according to their laws. Every
+man is allowed a small berth, about four feet square, where he stows
+with his wife and family.
+
+From the number of souls crowded in so small a space, it must
+naturally be supposed they are horridly dirty, which is evidently the
+case, and their vessels swarm with all kinds of vermin. Rats in
+particular, which they encourage to breed, and eat them as great
+delicacies;[119] in fact, there are very few creatures they will not
+eat. During our captivity we lived three weeks on caterpillars boiled
+with rice. They are much addicted to gambling, and spend all their
+leisure hours at cards and smoking opium.
+
+
+                               THE END.
+
+
+                               LONDON:
+
+              Printed by J. L. Cox, Great Queen Street,
+
+                        Lincoln's Inn Fields.
+
+
+
+
+                              FOOTNOTES:
+
+
+[1] The Chinese have particular histories of the robbers and pirates
+who existed in the _middle empire_ from the most ancient times; these
+histories form a portion of every provincial history. The three last
+books (the 58th, 59th, and 60th) of the _Memoirs_ _concerning the
+South of the Meihling Mountains_ (see the Catechism of the Shahmans,
+p. 44) are inscribed _Tsing fun_ (10,987, 2,651), and contain the
+Robber history from the beginning of Woo wang, of the dynasty Chow.
+The Memoirs only give extracts of former works; the extracts to the
+three last books are taken from _the Great History of Yu[)e]_, or
+Province of Kwang tang (_Yu[)e] ta ke_), from _the Old Transactions of
+the Five Realms_ (_Woo kw[)o] koo sse_), _the Old Records of Yang
+ching_, a name of the ancient city of Kwang tung (_Yang ching koo
+chaou_), _the Official Robber History_ (_Kw[)o] she y[)i]h shin
+chuen_), &c.
+
+[2] We are chiefly indebted to the Jesuits that the Russians had not
+conquered part of China about the middle of the seventeenth century.
+See the passage of Muller in Burney's Voyages of Discovery to the
+North-East Passage, p. 55. The Manchow destroyed the Chinese patriots
+by the cannon cast by the Rev. Father Verbiest.--Le Comte, Nouvelles
+Observations sur la Chine.
+
+[3] We have a learned dissertation, pleading for the authenticity of
+the famous inscription of _Se ngan foo_, by a well-known Sinologue.
+May we not be favoured with another _Oratio pro domo_ concerning the
+many crosses which had been found in Fuh këen, and on the "Escrevices
+de Mer, qui estans encore en vie, lors mesme qu'elles estoient
+cuites?" See Relation de la Chine par Michel Boym, de la Compagnie de
+Jesus, in Thévenot, et Relations de divers Voyage, vol. ii, pp. 6 and
+14.
+
+[4] _Toland_, History of the Druids, p. 51.--
+
+     "This justice, therefore, I would do to Ireland, even if it had
+     not been my country, _viz._ to maintain that this tolerating
+     principle, this _impartial liberty_ (of religion), ever since
+     unexampled there as well as elsewhere, _China excepted_, is far
+     greater honour to it," &c.
+
+Never was a man more calumniated than Confucius by the Jesuit Couplet.
+_Confucius Sinarum Philosophus_ was printed in the year 1687, shortly
+after Louis XIV. abolished the Edict of Nantes, and persecuted the
+most industrious part of his subjects. The Jesuit is bold enough to
+affirm, in his _Epistola Dedicatoria ad Ludovicum magnum_, that the
+Chinese philosopher would be exceedingly rejoiced in seeing the piety
+of the great king.
+
+     "_Quibus te laudibus efferret, cum haeresin, hostem illam
+     avitae fidei ac regni florentissimi teterrimam, proculcatam et
+     attritam, edicta quibus vitam ducere videbatur, abrogata;
+     disjecta templa, nomen ipsum sepultum, tot animarum millia
+     pristinis ab erroribus ad veritatem, ab exitio ad salutem tam
+     suaviter (!) tam fortiter (!), tam feliciter (!) traducta._"
+
+[5] Toreen's Voyage behind Osbeck, II. 239, English translation.
+
+[6] The Canton Register, 1829, No. 20.
+
+[7] _Jang sëen_ is his Tsze, or title. The numbers which are to be
+found on the margin of the translation, refer to the pages of the
+Chinese printed text.
+
+[8] The cubit at Canton is 14 inches 625 dec. Morrison, under the word
+_Weights_, in his Dictionary, English and Chinese.
+
+[9] We see by this statement that Couplet is wrong in saying
+(_Confucius_ Sinarum philosophus. Proemialis declaratio, p. 60):
+"Mahometani, qui una cum suis erroribus ante annos fere _septingentos_
+(Couplet wrote 1683) magno numero et licentia ingressi in Chinam."
+
+[10] This statement is so extraordinary, that the Translator thought
+it necessary to compare many passages where the character _sh[)u]h_
+(8384 M.) occurs. Sh[)u]h originally means, according to the _Shw[)o]
+w[)a]n_, _near, joining_; and _Sh[)u]h kw[)o]_, are, according to Dr.
+Morrison, "small states attached to and dependent on a larger one:
+tributary states." The character _sh[)u]h_ is often used in the same
+signification in the 57th book of our work. The description of the
+Peninsula of Malacca begins (Mem. b. 57, p. 15 r.) with the following
+words: "_Mwan l[)a] kea_ (Malacca) is in the southern sea, and was
+originally a tributary state (sh[)u]h kw[)o]) of _Sëen lo_, or Siam;
+but the officer who there had the command revolted and founded a
+distinct kingdom." In the war which the Siamese some years back
+carried on against the Sultan of Guedah, they always affirmed that the
+King of Siam is, by his own right, the legitimate sovereign of the
+whole peninsula of Malacca, and that the Sultan must only be
+considered as a rebel against his liege. The statement of the Chinese
+author, therefore, corroborates the assertions of the Siamese.
+
+[11] On the _General Map of the Western Sea_ (_Se hae tsung too_) _Lin
+yin_ takes the place of Sweden. I cannot conceive what can be the
+cause of that denomination. _Lin yin_, perhaps, may mean the island
+_Rugen_?
+
+[12] The common word for cloth, _to lo ne_, seems to be of Indian
+origin; it is certainly not Chinese. The proper Chinese name is
+_jung_.
+
+[13] _Peih ke_ is written with various characters. See Morrison's
+Dictionary, under the word Peih, 8509.
+
+[14] The syllable _lo_ is not in the Chinese text, as it is supposed,
+by a mistake of the printer.
+
+[15] It may be remarked, that Cosmas, about the middle of the sixth
+century, had a better idea concerning the Chinese empire, or the
+country of _Tsin_, than the Chinese have even now of Europe. Such an
+advantage was it to be born a Greek and not a Chinese. Cosmas seems
+very well informed concerning the articles of trade which the Chinese
+generally bring to Serendib, or Serendwîpa (Ceylon). He remarks, that
+farther than China there exists no other country; that on the east it
+is surrounded by the ocean; and that Ceylon is nearly as far from the
+Persian gulf as from Tziniza or China. See the description of
+Taprobane, taken from the Christian Topography, and printed in
+Thévenot, "Relations de divers Voyages," vol. i. pp. 2, 3, and 5. The
+Chinese about Canton have a custom of ending every phrase with a long
+_a_ (_a_ is pronounced like _a_ in Italian) which is merely euphonic,
+like _yay_ (11980) in the Mandarine dialect. If a Chinese should be
+asked about his country, he would answer according to the different
+dynasties, Tsin-a, Han-a, Tang-a, Ming-a, &c. _Tsin-a_ is probably the
+origin of _Tziniza_. It is a little strange that Rennel takes no
+notice of the statements of Cosmas. (See the Geographical System of
+Herodotus I. 223, Second Edition, London, 1830.) Is it not very
+remarkable, that this merchant and monk seems to have also had very
+correct information concerning the north-west frontier of China, and
+of the conquest which the Huns (in Sanscrit H[=u]na) have made in the
+north-west part of Hindostan? He reckons from China, through Tartary
+and Bactria to Persia, 150 stations, or days' journies. About the time
+of Cosmas, an intercourse commenced between China and Persia.
+
+[16] In prefaces and rhetorical exercises, the Chinese commonly call
+the years by the names employed in the well-known cycle of sixty
+years. The first cycle is supposed to have begun with the year 2697
+before Christ. In the year 1804, the ninth year of Këa kïng, was the
+beginning of the thirty-sixth cycle.--Histoire générale de la Chine,
+XII. p. 3 and 4.
+
+[17] The _Mei ling_ mountains, which divide the province Kwang tung
+from the province Këang se. See Note in the beginning of the History
+of the Pirates.
+
+[18] The place where European ships lie at anchor in the river of
+Canton, and one of the few spots which foreigners are allowed to
+visit.
+
+[19] I translate the Chinese words _Wae she_, by _non-official
+historian_, in opposition to the _Kw[)o] she_, or _She kwan_, the
+official historiographers of the empire. Both _Yuen tsze_, author of
+the following History of the Pirates, and _Lan e_, author of the work
+which is referred to in the preface, are such _Public historians_, who
+write--like most of the historians of Europe--the history of their own
+times, without being appointed to or paid for by government.
+
+_Lan e_ gives the history of the civil commotions under Këa king,
+which continued from the year 1814 to 1817, in six books; the work is
+printed in two small volumes, in the first year of Tao kwang (1820),
+and the following contains the greater part of the preface:
+
+     "In the spring of the year _Kea su_ (1814), I went with other
+     people to Peking; reaching the left side of the (Mei ling)
+     mountains we met with fellow travellers, who joined the army,
+     and with many military preparations. In the capital I learned
+     that the robber _Lin_ caused many disturbances; I took great
+     care to ascertain what was said by the people of the court, and
+     by the officers of government, and I wrote down what I heard.
+     But being apprehensive that I might publish truth and falsehood
+     mixed together, I went in the year _Ting chow_ (1817) again to
+     the metropolis, and read attentively the imperial account of
+     the _Pacification of the Robber-bands_, planned the occurrences
+     according to the time in which they happened, joined to it what
+     I heard from other sources, and composed out of these various
+     matters a work in six books, on the truth of which you may
+     rely."
+
+_Lan e_ begins his work with the history of those rebels called
+_T[.e]en le keaou_ (_the Doctrine of Nature_). They were divided into
+eight divisions, according to the eight Kwas, and placed under three
+captains, or chiefs, of whom the first was called _Lin tsing_--the
+same _Lin_ who is mentioned in the preface of _Soo_. These followers
+of the doctrine of Nature believed implicitly in an absurd book
+written by a robber, in which it was stated, that the Buddha who
+should come after Shakia (in Chinese called _Me l[)i]h_, in Sanscrit
+_Maëtreya_) is in possession of three seas, the _blue_, the _red_, and
+the _white_. These seas are the three Kalpas; we now live in the
+_white_ Kalpa. These robbers, therefore, carried _white_ banners.
+_Tsing y[)i]h ke_, B. i., p. i.
+
+[20] The Translator thinks it his duty to observe, that this preface,
+being printed in characters written in the current hand, he tried in
+vain to make out some abbreviations; he is, therefore, not quite
+certain if the last phrase beginning with the words: "_Yuen tsze has
+overlooked nothing_," &c. be correctly translated.
+
+[21] The names of authors of Prefaces, as well as of works themselves,
+which are not authorized by government, are often fictitious. Who
+would dare to publish or recommend any thing under his own name, which
+could displease any of the officers of the Chinese government? The
+author of the following Preface has a high-sounding title: "He, whose
+heart is directed towards the people."
+
+[22] _Keun_, or _Tsze_, are only titles, like those of _Master_ and
+_Doctor_ in the European languages. _Keun_ is, in the Canton dialect,
+pronounced _Kwa_, which, placed behind the family names of the _Hong_,
+or _Hing_ (3969) merchants, gives _How qwa_, or _How kwa_, _Mow kwa_,
+&c., which literally means "Mr. How, Mr. Mow."
+
+[23] I presume that the author of the Preface alludes to the
+_twenty-three_ large historical collections, containing the official
+publications regarding history and general literature. I have brought
+with me from Canton this vast collection of works, which are now
+concluded by the _History of the Ming_. It must be acknowledged that
+no other nation has, or had, such immense libraries devoted to history
+and geography. The histories of ancient Greece and Rome are pamphlets
+in comparison with the _Url shih san she_ of the Chinese.
+
+[24] See the first Note to this preface.
+
+[25] In the original Chinese now follows a sort of Introduction, or
+Contents (_Fan le_), which I thought not worth translating. It is
+written by the author of the _History of the Pacification of the
+Pirates_, who signs by his title _Jang sëen_.
+
+[26] This prince was declared Emperor on the 8th February 1796, by his
+father the Emperor Këen lung, who then retired from the management of
+public affairs.--Voyage of the Dutch Embassy to China, in 1794-5;
+London edition, I. 223. Këa king died on the 2d of September 1820,
+being sixty-one years of age. His second son ascended the Imperial
+throne six days after the death of his father; the years of his reign
+were first called _Yuen hwuy_, but soon changed to _Taou
+kwang_--_Illustrious Reason_. Indo-Chinese Gleaner, vol. iii. 41.
+
+[27] Annam (Chinese, Annan) comprehends the country of Cochin-China
+and Tung king. There have been many disturbances in these countries
+within the last fifty years. The English reader may compare the
+interesting historical sketch of modern Cochin-China in Barrow's
+_Voyage to Cochin-China_, p. 250.
+
+[28] The origin of this family may be seen in a notice of Cochin-China
+and Tung king by father Gaubil, in the "Lettres Edifiantes," and in
+the last volume of the French translation of the Kang m[)u]h. Annam
+had been conquered by Chinese colonies, and its civilization is
+therefore Chinese. This was already stated in Tavernier's masterly
+description of Tunking, "Recueil de plusieurs Relations," Paris, 1679,
+p. 168. Leyden, not knowing Chinese, has made some strange mistakes in
+his famous dissertation regarding the languages and literature of
+Indo-Chinese nations. Asiatic Researches, vol. x. 271, London edition,
+1811.
+
+[29] In Chinese _Lung lae_ (7402, 6866 Mor.); this name is taken from
+the metropolis of this kingdom, called by the European travellers in
+the beginning of the seventeenth century, _Laniam_, _Laniangh_, or
+_Lanshang_. Robt. Kerr, General History and Collection of Voyages and
+Travels, Edinburgh, 1813, vol. viii. 446, 449.--The Burmas call this
+country Layn-sayn; "Buchanan on the Religion and Literature of the
+Burmas." Asiatic Researches, vol. ii. 226, London edition, 1810, 4to.
+The kingdom of Laos was conquered about the end of the year 1828, by
+the Siamese; the king, his two principal wives, his sons, and
+grandsons, amounting in all to fourteen persons, were cruelly killed
+at Bangkok. The Protestant missionaries, Thomlin and Guzlaff, saw nine
+of the relations of the king in a cage at Bangkok, the 30th of
+January, 1829. The First Report of the Singapore Christian Union,
+Singapore, 1830, Appendix xv. Is _Lang lae_ a mistake for _L[)u]h
+lae_, which is mentioned in the _Hae kw[)o] hëen këen_, p. 214? There
+occurs no _Lung lae_ in this work; where the Indo-Chinese nations are
+described under the title _Nan yan she_; i.e. History of the Southern
+ocean.
+
+[30] People living in the same state of society, have usually the same
+customs and manners. It is said of the celebrated _Buccaneers_, that
+they laid aside their surnames, and assumed nicknames, or martial
+names. Many, however, on their marrying, took care to have their real
+surnames inserted in the marriage contract; and this practice gave
+occasion to a proverb still current in the French Antilles, _a man is
+not to be known till he takes a wife_. See the Voyages and Adventures
+of William Dampier, and History of the Buccaneers, p. 87. Women cut
+the characters for common Chinese books; and, therefore, the Chinese
+say, so many mistakes are found in ordinary publications. The
+character _pa_ (8123) in _Tung hae pa_ is by such a mistake always
+written _p[)i]h_ (8527).
+
+[31] He called himself Hëo hëen (3728, 3676,) after having received a
+recompense from government for his robberies. See p. 75.
+
+[32] Our author anticipates here a little; this will be clear by a
+subsequent paragraph, p. 13.
+
+[33] _Shan_ is a mountain in Chinese; _Ling_ is a chain of mountains
+or _sierra_. The Chinese geographers say, the Mei ling mountain
+branches out like a tree; and they describe in particular two, the
+south-east and the south-west branches from Canton. They speak
+likewise of Woo Ling, or five sierras, in reference to five different
+passes by which these mountains are divided; but there are now more
+passes. See a compilation, already quoted, regarding Canton, made by
+order of the former governor _Yuen_, and printed at Canton last year,
+1830, in eighty books, under the title _Ling nan y ung shuh_: i. e.
+_Memoirs regarding the South of the Sierra_, book 5. vol. ii, p. 1.
+
+[34] The Chinese possess itineraries and directories for the whole
+empire, for every province, and for every large town or place; I shall
+therefore always extract the notices which are to be found in the
+_Itinerary of the Province Kwang tung_ (_Kwang tung tsuen too_,)
+referring to the places mentioned in our text.
+
+_Hwy_ is _Hwy chow foo_, from Pekin 6365 le, and easterly from Canton
+400 le; one town of the second, and ten towns of the third rank are
+appended to this district-metropolis. The whole district pays 14,321
+leang, or tael. Here is the celebrated _Lo fow_ mountain. Lo fow
+consists really of two united mountains, of which one is called _Lo_
+and the other _Fow_, said to be three thousand six hundred _chang_ in
+height, or 36,000 feet (?). The circumference is about 500 le. Here
+are the sixteen caverns where the dragon dwells, spoken of in the
+books of the Tao sect. You meet on these mountains with bamboo from
+seventy to eighty feet in circumference. Kwang tung tsuen too, p. 5v.
+
+_Chaou_ is _Chaou chow foo_, from Pekin 8,540 and easterly from Canton
+1,740 le; eleven towns of the third rank belong to it. The whole
+district pays 65,593 leang, or tael. A tael is equal to 5.798 decimal,
+troy weight; and in the East-India Company's accounts the tael of
+silver is reckoned at six shillings and eightpence sterling. _Foo_ is
+the Chinese name for the first class of towns; _Chow_ for the second,
+_Hëen_ for the third. I sometimes have translated _Chow_ by
+district-town, and _Hëen_ by borough, or market-town.
+
+[35] _Kaou_ is _Kaou chow foo_, from Pekin 7,767, north-west from
+Canton 930 le; the district, and five towns of the third class, paying
+together 62,566 leang, are dependent on the district-metropolis.
+
+_Lëen_ is _Lëen chow foo_, from Pekin 9,065, from Canton 1,515 le; the
+district and two towns, paying together 1,681 leang, are dependent on
+the district-metropolis.
+
+_Luy_ is _Luy chow foo_, from Pekin 8,210, westerly from Canton 1,380
+le; the district and its towns, paying together 13,706 leang, are
+dependent on the district-metropolis.
+
+_Këung_ is _Këung chow foo_, the capital of the island _Hae nan_ or
+Hainan, from Pekin 9,690, south-west from Canton 1,680 le; three
+district towns, and ten towns of the third class, paying together
+89,447 leang, are dependent on this capital. There is a town also
+called _Këung shan hëen_, and both town and capital take their name
+from the mountain _Këung_.
+
+_Kin_ is _Kin chow_, dependent on _Lëen chow foo_, and far from it 140
+le.
+
+_Tan_ is _Tan chow_, a town of Hainan, south-west from the capital 370
+le; the area of the town is 31 le.
+
+_Yae_ is _Yae chow_, a town of Hainan, southerly from the capital of
+the island 1,114 le. About this town many pirates have their
+lurking-place. This circumstance may have caused the mistake of
+Captain Krusenstern, stating that in A.D. 1805, the pirates who infest
+the coast of China had obtained possession of the whole island of
+Hainan.
+
+_Wan_ is _Wan chow_, a town of Hainan, in a south-easterly direction
+from the capital of the island 470 le.
+
+[36] _Kwang_ is _Kwang tung s[)a]ng_, or the metropolis of the
+province Kwang tung (Canton). Ten departments (foo), nine districts
+(chow), and seventy-eight towns of the third class (hëen), are
+dependent on the provincial city, and pay together in land-tax
+1,272,696 leang, excise 47,510 leang, and in other miscellaneous taxes
+5,990 leang. The import duties from the sea-side with measurement of
+foreign vessels is said in the _Kwang tung tsuen too_, p. 3v, to
+amount to 43,750 leang. All duties together of the province of Canton
+amount to 1,369,946 taels, about £450,000. The lists of population
+gave last October (1830) 23,000,000 (?) for the whole province, and we
+now see that the Chinese pay less duties (every inhabitant about
+fourpence halfpenny) than the population of any country of Europe. I
+received the population lists from _Ahong_, an intelligent Chinese,
+well known to the English residents at Canton. Distance from Pekin
+about 6,835 le.
+
+The subject concerning the population of China, and the amount of the
+_land-rent_, the _poll-tax_, and other miscellaneous taxes, is
+surrounded by so many difficulties, that the writer of this dares not
+to affirm any thing about these matters until he has perused the new
+edition of _Tay tsing hwy tëen_. For the present he will merely
+remark, that in book 141, p. 38, of the said work, the population of
+China Proper for the year 1793 is reckoned at 307,467,200. If we add
+to this number the population of Chinese Tartary, it will certainly
+amount to the round number of 333,000,000, as reported by Lord
+Macartney.
+
+_Chow_ is _chow king foo_, from Pekin about 4,720, north-west from
+Canton 360 le. There is certainly some mistake in the Chinese
+Itinerary; how could Canton be only 6,835, and Chow king foo 7420 le?
+The imperial edition of the Tay tsing hwy tëen (book 122, p. 6 v.)
+only gives 5,494 le as the distance from Canton to Pekin; there seems
+to be a different sort of le. The district and eleven towns of the
+third class, paying together 162,392 leang depend on the district
+metropolis.
+
+With the aid of the Chinese Itineraries and the new edition of the
+_Tay tsing hwy tëen_ (printed 1797, in 360 large volumes) it would be
+an easy task to compile a "Chinese Gazetteer."
+
+[37] I found no particulars concerning these two small _islands_ (Chow
+signifies island) in the Canton Itinerary; and I looked in vain on the
+great map of the Chinese sea-coast in the Hae kw[)o] hëen këen for
+their position.
+
+[38] The town _Sin hwy_ is south-west from Canton 230 le; its area is
+138 le (?) and the taxes amount to 28,607 leang. This place suffered
+much from the pirates. I find no proper name for the river on which
+Sin hwy lies in the Chinese maps, it is merely called _Këang_, river.
+Near this place is the island where the last emperor of the Sung cast
+himself into the sea (1280).
+
+[39] The word _pe_ (8335) cannot be translated in any European
+language. It means a vice common in Asia.
+
+[40] The pirates probably made use of the term _saou_ (8833) and not
+of _tse_ (10575), because _saou_ written with a different character
+(8834), is the general term for boats and ships. _Paou_ must be
+considered as the lieutenant or first minister of Mistress _Ching_,
+she being herself of the family _Sh[)i]h_.
+
+[41] It will be very interesting to compare the regulations of Paou
+with those of the Buccaneers. When these pirates had got a
+considerable booty, each person, holding up his hand, solemnly
+protested that he had secreted nothing of what he had taken.--Voyage,
+l. c. p. 95.
+
+[42] The _San po_ (8788, 8608) are national spirits, and, as it seems,
+not connected with Buddhism; there is a great variety in the number of
+these good old mothers, who by the different emperors have been
+declared saints, or spirits, for the Emperor of China is likewise the
+pope in his empire. Dr. Morrison has an interesting article on these
+old women in his Canton Vocabulary. _Kang he_ mentions only two _Po_
+(s. v.), who may be considered as spirits. This is a character of
+which the Buddhists are very fond; perhaps the translator may be
+wrong, and that _San po_ is merely the Sanscrit word _Swayam-bhú_.
+
+[43] Our author shews every where his partiality for Chang paou.
+
+[44] The author said just before that the dominion of the pirates in
+the Chinese sea lasted about ten years; but he only describes the
+transactions of the last three years, when their power and strength
+was at the highest point. He begins to give particulars from the 7th
+moon of the 13th year of Këa king, which corresponds nearly to the
+beginning of September 1808.
+
+[45] There are three wretched forts at the Hoo mun, the mouth of the
+Canton river, which could scarcely hinder any European vessel from
+passing through.
+
+[46] One of the islands marked upon European maps is called _The
+Ladrones_: these Ladrones, so called from the pirates, have all
+particular names on Chinese maps.
+
+[47] In the first preface of the Hae kw[)o] hëen këen it is
+particularly stated, that the map of the sea-coast of China became
+first known to its editor by the expeditions against the pirates.
+
+[48] There are, as is stated in my preface, some vulgar or provincial
+characters in this history; here (p. 1.) occurs a character not to be
+found in Kanghe, composed out of the fifty-sixth radical and the group
+Leaou or Lew (7061, 7203). My whole library being locked up in the
+Custom-house, I am not able to consult a dictionary of the Canton
+dialect, therefore the meaning of these characters can only be guessed
+at by etymology. The etymology of the characters gives sometimes a
+better meaning than any dictionary, and sometimes it may entirely
+mislead us; there is no reliance on etymology. Usage is the only
+master of the Chinese, as of all other languages.
+
+[49] Hëang shan is a considerable place between Macao and Canton. I
+passed this town in the beginning of October 1830. Distance from
+Canton 150 le in an eastern direction.
+
+[50] It was, as we have before stated, the policy of Chang paou to
+befriend himself, when possible, with the lower sort of people.
+
+[51] Here the author himself says _Te ming_ (9955, 7714) "name of a
+place." To find out the names of places and persons, and distinguish
+the titles of the different officers employed by government, is often
+a very difficult task. The last character in the name of this place,
+_pae_, is very seldom found; it is the fourth character of the
+division of eight strokes, rad. 177.--See Kanghe. O is, in the Canton
+dialect, commonly pronounced like A, in Italian.
+
+[52] These are large vessels with windows, from 200 to 500 tons; they
+are called by Europeans by the Chinese name, in the Canton dialect,
+junks; _chuen_ is the Mandarin pronunciation. The foreign trade of
+Cochin-China and Tung king is almost exclusively with China, that to
+Siam, Singapur, and Malacca, being inconsiderable. The Cochin-Chinese
+government tried some years ago to open a regular trade with Calcutta;
+but this undertaking partly failed on account of the heavy duties on
+foreign sugar in the possessions of the East-India Company. Sugar is a
+great article of export in Cochin-China and Siam.
+
+[53] On the large map of the coast of China from Corea to
+Cochin-China, called _Yuen_ (12542) _hae tsuen too_, this place is
+called _Lao wan shan_, "the old ten thousand mountains," and is
+exactly opposite to the Bocca Tigris in a direct southerly direction.
+
+[54] The sails of Chinese vessels are often called Mats, for they are
+really nothing else than matting.
+
+[55] _Le_: this itinerary measure, as we have remarked, is different
+in different parts of the empire; it is generally considered that 250
+le make a degree of latitude.
+
+[56] This they did probably to look more ferocious. Plutarch observes
+of Sylla, that "the ferocity of his aspect was heightened by his
+complexion, which was a strong _red_, interspersed with spots of
+white."
+
+[57] _Mun_ means an _entrance_ or _mouth_; few of these places are to
+be found, even in the particular maps of the province Kwang tung in
+the _Tay tsing hwy teen_.
+
+[58] _Paou_, the first character of 8233, is in our own history always
+used in the signification of _cannon_. The word meant in former times
+an engine for throwing stones, and so it is used in the history of the
+Han dynasty. This gave rise to the opinion that the Chinese had guns
+and gunpowder long before its discovery in Europe. How could these
+extraordinary engines have escaped the discriminating genius of Marco
+Polo, had they existed in China?
+
+[59] The three provinces which have Këang (5500) in their name the
+same as the two Kwang, Kwang to the east (tung) and Kwang to the west
+(se), are usually united under one governor and one deputy governor.
+
+[60] Previously they robbed only in the open sea, outside the Canton
+river.
+
+[61] The river discharges itself by many channels into the sea.
+
+[62] _Tung kwan hëen_ is easterly from Canton 150 le, its area amounts
+to 180 le, and pays 44,607 leang land-rent, or taxes. There are many
+small islands belonging to the district of Tung kwan.
+
+[63] _Fan yu hëen_, near Canton. The place where European ships anchor
+belongs to this Hëen; its area amounts to 140 le, and pays 48,356
+leang. I looked in vain for some notices regarding the many small
+villages which are to be found in the sequel of the page. Some of them
+are merely mentioned in the Itinerary of the province Canton. The
+reader may compare the account of Richard Glasspoole in the Appendix.
+
+[64] These are names of different sorts of Chinese vessels or junks.
+
+[65] In the original Kin (6369). Kin cannot be the common cash (Tung
+pao) for then the sum would be too trifling--8 to 900 are to be got in
+Canton for a Spanish dollar. If Kin were used for dollar, or tael,
+which is very probable, the sum is enormous. Richard Glasspoole states
+that the pirates demanded indeed ten thousand dollars!--See the
+Appendix.
+
+[66] _Hoo mun_. The following notice on the Chinese tiger is taken
+from the geography of Mookden, and translated by Father Amiot. Eloge
+de la ville de Moukden par Kien long, p. 249. "Au-delà de nos
+frontières (Mookden), il y a une espèce de tigre, dont la peau est un
+fort beau blanc, sur lequel il y a, par intervalles, des taches
+noires. Ces espèces de tigres sont plus méchants et plus féroces que
+les autres." Father Amoit adds, that these tigers are called _Hoo_ by
+the Chinese, and _Tasha_ by the Manchow.
+
+[67] The Chinese geographers and historians are very well acquainted
+with Siam; there is an interesting description of this empire in the
+Hae kwo hëen këen, p. 21, and in the 57th book, p. 13, of the memoirs
+concerning the south of the Mei ling mountains. That Siam acknowledges
+the supremacy of China, was known to the most early European
+travellers. Cluver says (in his Introductio in omnem Geographiam
+Wolfenbuttelæ, 1694, 4to., p. 473), that "Rex Siamensis irruptione
+crebriori Tartarica pressus, Chano denique Chinensi sese beneficiarium
+aut vasallum submisit." Mendez Pinto, who was in that country in the
+year 1540, states that the king of Siam acknowledged the supremacy of
+China; Bernhardi Vareni Descriptio regni Japoniæ et Siam; Cantabrigiæ
+1673-8, p. 128.
+
+[68] It is impossible to translate the names of vessels of different
+descriptions. The large are the Chang lung, or great dragon vessels
+which by the Chinese law are forbidden to be used by any private
+person; these are the Mandarin, or government vessels. The pirates
+nevertheless had such vessels, as likewise the daring smugglers, who
+bring the opium from Lintin, or Linting, to Canton. The amount of the
+opium trade in the port of Canton was, in the year 1829-30, equal to
+12,057,157 Sp. dollars.
+
+[69] One of the English sailors, who had been taken prisoner. "The
+pirates frequently obliged my men to go on shore and fight with the
+muskets, which did great execution; the Chinese principally using bows
+and arrows. They have match-locks, but use them very
+unskilfully."--See Appendix.
+
+[70] A shih, or stone, contains four keun: a keun thirty kin or catty,
+the well known Chinese weight: a catty is equal to one pound and a
+third English.
+
+[71] _Nan hae hëen._ Its area amounts to 278 le, and it pays 63,731
+leang. The European factories in Canton lie in this district, and the
+monastery opposite to the factories is usually from the name of the
+district called the _Hae nan sze_, the temple of Hae nan. The district
+of every place is called by the name of the place, and we must
+therefore speak of the town and district Nan hae.
+
+[72] This simple note of the Chinese author better illustrates the
+religion of China than many learned dissertations. All the deities,
+those of Greece and Rome, of China and India, are derived from two
+sources; both the powers of nature and highly gifted human beings were
+deified. These powers of nature, and the virtues and vices of men
+being in every community nearly similar, the same gods and goddesses
+are found everywhere; only their external form and shape is different.
+Every province, every town, and every village of China has its
+particular tutulary saint, or god, and on the day of his festival his
+effigy is carried in public. There is no essential difference in this
+respect between China and those countries where Roman Catholicism is
+yet in its highest vigour. The effigies of the Chinese gods and
+goddesses are all of the human shape; they have no monsters like India
+and Egypt, under which it was once the fashion to seek for
+extraordinary wisdom and astonishing science. Lucian has already taken
+the liberty of laughing at these deities, and at the writers, the
+prophets, and sophists, who try to find some sense in all this vulgar
+display of nonsense, by which the people are deluded. Lucian de
+Sacreficiis s. f. where he laughs at the Jupiter with a ram's head, at
+the good fellow Mercurius with the countenance of a dog, etc. [Greek:
+Krioprosôpon men ton Dia, chynoprosôpon de ton beltison Ermên chai ton
+Pana holon tragon], etc. See the pleasant story of Jupiter with the
+ram's head in Herodotus, II. 42.
+
+[73] The strong winds (Tay fung) in the Chinese sea begin about the
+middle of September, or just before the equinox.
+
+[74] It is not stated in the Chinese text, whose father rushed
+forward, whether it was the father of the lady, or of Wei tang chow.
+
+[75] I must again remark that there is a false character in our text:
+it should be Në[)e], 7974 in the Tonical Dictionary of Dr. M.
+
+[76] I am compelled to give a free translation of this verse, and
+confess myself not quite certain of the signification of the poetical
+figures used by our author. _F[=u]ng_ signifies a hollow pyramid
+filled with combustibles; _y[=e]n_ signifies the smoke caused by
+combustion; _tse[=a]ng_ signifies the spar or yard in a boat or ship,
+to which the sail is attached, and _ying_ is shadow. It seems that the
+author alludes to the spar or yard-arm, at which _Mei ying_ was
+fastened by the pirate; but what he means by _shadow_ I do not really
+know, perhaps _ying_ is in the place of _Mei ying_.
+
+[77] The Chinese characters are printed like the other portion of the
+work. I have divided them according to the verses. Only the first
+eight lines have a regular metre of five feet, or words, and as the
+author himself says, his song is then at an end; but the language
+still remains poetical, and for that reason it was thought proper to
+divide also the remaining lines like verses. Every word must be
+considered as consisting of one syllable or sound, even if we write it
+with three or four vowels. Poetry is perhaps more esteemed in China,
+than in any other country in the world. The late governor-general of
+Kwang tung and Kwang se, his Excellency Yuen, published the poems of
+his daughter, who died when only nineteen years of age. Most of the
+emperors of China wrote verses, and I have, if I remember rightly, an
+imperial collection printed at the command of Këa king of many
+volumes, containing the poetry of the crowned heads of China. The
+reader may easily imagine that the Chinese have many works on poetry;
+I am also in possession of a Chinese _Gradus ad Parnassum_ in ten
+large volumes, in which are to be found, divided under different
+heads, all the fine expression and poetical images of the classical
+poets. Mr. Davis has given some excellent specimens of Chinese poetry
+in his elegant dissertation on that subject.
+
+[78] Verbally "monkeys and birds," a sort of birds which according to
+Dr. Morrison are something similar to our crows.
+
+[79] In the memoirs concerning the south of the Mei ling mountains,
+three books (from 9-11 incl.) are filled up with a description of the
+seas, rivers, and lakes, of the province of Canton. Book ninth begins
+with a general description of the Chinese seas, and of the different
+entrances from the sea-side; then follows a particular description of
+the sea near Canton and Hainan, and of the different Tides at various
+places. The mariner would certainly be gratified by a translation of
+this part of the work. The translator has often remarked the
+extraordinary phenomenon of the fiery appearance of the sea, during
+his residence in China. In the before-mentioned work, b. ix. p. 5 v,
+we read the following notice concerning this phenomenon:
+
+     "_The fire in the sea_: It happens sometimes that sea waves
+     have such a luminous appearance, as if the whole sea were full
+     of fire. If you cast any thing into the sea, it becomes
+     luminous like a star; but you do not see this during moonlight.
+     Wood having in itself no fire, receives a fiery appearance,
+     after having been passed through the water."
+
+In b. x. p. 10 r. Whampo is said to be seventy le from the sea
+custom-house of Canton. In this extract foreigners are in general very
+unfavourably spoken of. Amongst other things we are told, "that
+foreigners or barbarians drink so much strong liquor that they are not
+able to stand on their feet; they fall down intoxicated, and before
+having had a sound sleep, they cannot rise again." It is also remarked
+in the same article that many people assemble together at Whampo, to
+attend the trade with the foreigners; the reason probably why our
+author calls it "the Great." The reader will remember what has been
+said on Hëang shan in a former note; I will only here add the remark
+of Martini, "that in his time the principal and most wealthy merchants
+lived in that place." (Thévenot, Rélations de divers voyages, iii.
+167.)
+
+[80] It is well known that a great part of the population of China
+live on the water, and they are generally called _Tan_ (9832)
+people;--a word which in the Canton dialect is pronounced _Tanka_.
+They are quite a separate race, and harshly dealt with by the Chinese
+government. There exist particular works concerning the history, the
+customs and laws of these boat-people. They more than once opposed the
+despotic regulation of their masters, and government was always afraid
+they might join the pirates. The history of the southern barbarians in
+the often quoted _Memoirs_, &c. begins with a description of the _Tan
+jin_, or _Tanka_ people, and it is there said that they are divided
+into three different classes. The description of their customs and
+manners is very interesting, and I hope soon to lay it before the
+English reader. It has been supposed that the name _Tanka people_ is
+derived from the form of their boats, which is similar to an _egg_;
+but _Shw[)o] w[)a]n_, as quoted in Kang he, explains the word only by
+_Nan fang e yay_, Barbarians of the southern region. There exist
+different forms of this character, but I think we should not presume
+to make an etymology of a Chinese character without being authorized
+by the Shw[)o] w[)a]n, the oldest and most genuine source of Chinese
+lexicography.
+
+[81] In the Chinese text is _King king_ (the character is composed out
+of radical _fire_ and _ear_), on which is to be found an interesting
+critical observation in Kang he, s. v. b. viii. p. 119r. In no other
+oriental language has there been so much done by the natives for the
+foreign student as by the Chinese.
+
+[82] The most common denomination for Portugal is now Se yang kw[)o],
+or more correctly _Siao se yang kw[)o]_. "The small realm in the
+western ocean; Europe is called _Ta se yang_." (See Preface.) I thought
+it here more proper to translate _E_ by _foreigner_, than by
+_barbarian_. In a Chinese history of Macao, we find various
+particulars regarding the Portuguese. The description of the
+Portuguese clergy and the Roman Catholic religion is the most
+interesting part of this curious publication. It consists of two
+parts, or volumes.
+
+[83] It would be interesting to read the Portuguese version of these
+skirmishes. A history of these skirmishes was printed at Lisbon, but I
+could not procure this publication. The reader may compare the
+statements of Richard Glasspoole in the Appendix.
+
+[84] The Chinese are very much accustomed to consult the P[)u]h, or
+sort. There exists various ways, according to the ideas of the
+Chinese, of asking the divinity whether any undertaking shall prove
+either fortunate or not. The translator has seen different modes of
+casting lots in the temples of the suburbs of Canton. The reader may
+find an interesting description of casting lots in the "Histoire du
+grand Royaume de la Chine;" à Rouen 1614-8, p. 30. There is much
+useful information to be found in this work; but it would be curious
+to learn in what Armenian works ("escritures des Armeniens") it is
+stated, that "St. Thomas came through China in his voyage to the
+East-Indies" (l. c. p. 25)!
+
+[85] _Woo_ (11753) _how_; _Woo_ is the time between eleven and one
+o'clock of the day. The Chinese divide the day into twelve _she shin_,
+or great hours; the European twenty-four hours of the day are called
+_seaou she shin_, little hours. We learn by a passage of Herodotus
+(Euterpe 109), that the Greeks in his time also divided the day into
+twelve parts; Herodotus also adds that the Greeks received this
+division of time from the Babylonians.--See Visdelou in the Supplement
+to the "Bibliothèque Orientale," by Herbelot, under the word _Fenek_.
+
+[86] _Me teng_ is a particular sort of junk.
+
+[87] These speeches seem to be rhetorical exercises of the Chinese
+historian; the antithesis is a figure very much used in Chinese
+rhetoric and poetry, and a great part of their poetry consists merely
+of such antitheses.
+
+[88] That is--they are of no effect at all. I, however, thought it
+proper to retain the strong figure of the original.
+
+[89] The author forgets in his rhetorical flourishes, that it is a
+pirate himself who speaks to pirates. The Chinese characters for "sea
+monster" are to be found in M 2057; "_King e_ is used figuratively for
+a devouring conqueror of men," says Dr. Morrison.
+
+[90] The author has here the expression _tung-leang_ (11399) _pillar_,
+in its proper and figurative sense. He probably chose this expression
+to make, according to Chinese sentiments, a fine rhetorical phrase.
+_Leang_ in the beginning of the phrase corresponds to the sound and
+the form of the character to _Leang_ at the end: Leang shan san kë[)e]
+ching y[)i]h, mung g[)a]n shay url king ts[)o] tung-leang. There is
+also something like a quibble in the second phrase; Wa kang, _Bricks
+and mountain ridge_ is transformed into Choo sh[)i]h (1223) or a
+_corner-stone_, just as Leang-shan, _mountain bridge_ is into
+tung-leang, or _pillar_.
+
+[91] O po tae alludes to well known events in Chinese history. On
+Tsaou tsaou see Dr. Morrison, 10549 in the tonical part of the
+Dictionary.
+
+[92] I confess that it was not an easy matter to translate these
+rhetorical exercises and poetical phrases, by which the author is
+evidently anxious to draw a veil over the weakness of the empire. The
+Chinese scholar will certainly pardon any mistake which might occur in
+this poetical or furious prose--to use the expression of Blair in his
+_Lectures on Rhetoric_.
+
+[93] _Kwei shen_ is a Hëen or town of the third rank, and dependent on
+the district metropolis Hwy chow foo; it is near to Hwy. Its area
+amounts to thirty-seven le, and pays in taxes 26,058 leang. It is
+stated in the _Itinerary of Canton_ (Kwang tung tsuen too, p. 5. v.)
+that the situation of this great town makes it a place of danger;
+being close to the sea, Kwei shen is exposed to sudden attacks from
+pirates.
+
+[94] _Yang keang_ is a town of the third rank, and dependent on its
+district metropolis Chow king foo; distant from Chow king foo in a
+southerly direction 340 le. Its area amounts to twenty-nine le, and it
+pays 12,499 leang in taxes.
+
+_Sin gan_ is a town of the third rank, and dependent upon Kwang chow
+foo; distance from Canton in a north-east direction 200 le. Its area
+amounts to fifty le, and pays in taxes 11,623 leang. There are three
+towns in the district of Canton, whose names begin with _Sin_, new;
+_Sin hwy_, _The New Association_; _Sin ning_, _The New Repose_; and
+_Sin gan_, _The New Rest_. Kwang tung tsuen too p. 3 v. 4 v et r. 8 r,
+_Ning_ (8026) is now always written without sin or heart, being the
+_ming_ or proper name of the reigning emperor. By a mistake it is
+stated in the Indo-Chinese Gleaner (iii. 108.), that _Ning_ was the
+proper name of Këa king. The proper name of the reigning emperor is
+considered sacred, and must be spelled differently during his
+life-time.
+
+[95] A Pa tsung, a kind of inferior military officer, says Dr.
+Morrison, under the word pa, (8103.)
+
+[96] _Laou ya_, _Laou ya kang_, the mountain ridge of Laou ya, is
+fifteen le from the town of the third rank called _Sh[)i]h ching_.
+Shih ching hëen belongs to the district Kaou chow foo. Kwang tung
+tsuen too, 16v. 9r.
+
+[97] Crackers made of gunpowder, and the gong, are used at every
+Chinese festival.
+
+[98] The name of a temple which Europeans commonly call a Pagoda.
+
+[99] Keun in Chinese, Kwa according to the Canton pronunciation. It is
+true it is somewhat awkward to speak of Madam Ching and Mr. Paou, but
+it may be remarked that the Chinese use their familiar expressions
+_foo_ or _keun_ in the same manner as we use Mr. and Mrs.
+
+[100] In the text is only Chow (1355); but I think it must here be
+taken for the city or town of Canton.
+
+[101] About the towns which are mentioned in our text, the reader may
+compare the notes to the first book. It is quite impossible to
+ascertain by the text alone if there was only one military officer
+appointed for all these places or not. In the latter case it would be
+necessary to read Chuh url and Kang g[)i]h; but we see by p. 95 that
+Chuh url kang g[)i]h is the name of _one_ commander.
+
+[102] Tung king and Cochin-China now form one empire, under the name
+of Annam or Annan. The king of this country acknowledges the supremacy
+of the Chinese emperor, and sends every year a tribute to Pekin. The
+time of the reign of every king is known by an honorary title, like
+that of the emperors of China. The honorary title of the period of the
+reigning king, to whom the message was sent, was _Kea lung_ (good
+fortune), the younger brother of _King ching_, called by his proper
+name _F[)u]h ying_ (according to the Chinese Mandarin pronunciation):
+he is often mentioned in the beginning of the first book of our
+_History of the Pirates_. The king, commonly called Kea lung, died
+Feb. 1820, in the 19th year of his reign. His son, who still reigns,
+mounted the throne on the third day after his father's death, assuming
+the words _Ming ming_ (Illustrious fortune), as the designation of his
+reign. See the "Indo-Chinese Gleaner," vol. i. p. 360. It was falsely
+reported that Ming ming was murdered some days after his succession to
+the throne (Indo-Chinese Gleaner, l. c. p. 416), and this report is
+stated as a fact in the generally very accurate work, Hamilton's
+East-India Gazetteer, vol. i. p. 430. The reader may find some
+interesting particulars concerning the present state of Cochin-China,
+in the Canton Register 1829, No. 13. Chinese influence seems to be now
+predominating in that country.
+
+[103] _Teaou_ (10044) in our text is written with a vulgar character.
+
+[104] Chih (Kang he under radical 112. B. vii. p. 19 r.) seems to
+indicate that they have been put to death by cutting one member after
+another.
+
+[105] Hae k[)a]ng is a town of the third rank and dependent on the
+district metropolis Luy chow foo. Luy chow foo is westerly from Canton
+1380 le. Hae kang is near to its district metropolis _Kwang tung tsuen
+too_, p. v. 9 v. See the Notes, p. 9, of this work.
+
+[106] _Hae fung_ is a town of the third rank, and dependent on the
+district metropolis Hwy chow foo. It is in a north-east direction from
+its district metropolis 300 le. Its area contains forty le, and pays
+17,266 leang in taxes.
+
+_Suy ke_ is a town of the third rank, and dependent upon the district
+metropolis Luy chow foo; distance from Luy chow foo in a northerly
+direction 180 le.
+
+_H[)o] poo_ is a town of the third rank, and dependant on the district
+metropolis Lëen chow foo. This town is near to the district
+metropolis, has an area of thirty le, and pays 7,458 leang in taxes.
+_Kwang tung tsuen too_, p. 6 r. p. 9 v.
+
+[107] _Junk_ is the Canton pronunciation of _chuen_, ship.
+
+[108] The pirates had many other intimate acquaintances on shore, like
+Doctor _Chow_ of Macao.
+
+[109] The pirates were always afraid of this. We find the following
+statement concerning the Chinese pirates, taken from the records in
+the East-India House, and printed in Appendix C. to the _Report
+relative to the trade with the East-Indies and China_, in the sessions
+1820 and 1821 (reprinted 1829), p 387.
+
+     "In the year 1808, 1809, and 1810, the Canton river was so
+     infested with pirates, who were also in such force, that the
+     Chinese government made an attempt to subdue them, but failed.
+     The pirates totally destroyed the Chinese force; ravaged the
+     river in every direction; threatened to attack the city of
+     Canton, and destroyed many towns and villages on the banks of
+     the river; and killed or carried off, to serve as Ladrones,
+     several thousands of inhabitants.
+
+     "These events created an alarm extremely prejudicial to the
+     commerce of Canton, and compelled the Company's supercargoes to
+     fit out a small country ship to cruize for a short time against
+     the pirates."
+
+[110] That the whole family must suffer for the crime of one
+individual, seems to be the most cruel and foolish law of the whole
+Chinese criminal code.
+
+[111] The Hoo mun, or Bocca Tigris.
+
+[112] We know by the "History of the Chinese Pirates," that these
+"wasps of the ocean," to speak with _Yuen tsze yung lun_, were
+originally divided into six squadrons.
+
+[113] In the barbarous Chinese-English spoken at Canton, all things
+are indiscriminately called _chop_. You hear of a chop-house,
+chop-boat, tea-chop, Chaou-chaou-chop, etc. To give a bill or
+agreement on making a bargain is in Chinese called _ch[)a] tan_;
+ch[)a] in the pronunciation of Canton is _chop_, which is then applied
+to any writing whatever. See Dr. Morrison's English and Chinese
+Dictionary under the word _chop_.
+
+[114] The following is the _Character of the Chinese of Canton, as
+given in ancient Chinese books_: "People of Canton are silly, light,
+weak in body, and weak in mind, without any ability to fight on land."
+The Indo-Chinese Gleaner, No. 19.
+
+[115] _Joss_ is a Chinese corruption of the Portuguese _Dios_, _God_.
+The Joss, or idol, of which Mr. Glasspoole speaks in the _San po
+shin_, which is spoken of in the work of Yuen tsze.
+
+[116] Yuen tsze reported the memorable deed of the beautiful _Mei
+ying_ at the end of the first book of his history.
+
+[117] The _Chang lung_ vessels.
+
+[118] Probably the wife of Ching y[)i]h, whose family name was
+Sh[)i]h, or stone.
+
+[119] The Chinese in Canton only eat a particular sort of rat, which
+is very large and of a whitish colour.
+
+........
+
+Transcriber's note:
+
+Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling is as in the original.
+
+In this etext a 'breve' is represented with [)i] and the same for
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of History of the Pirates Who Infested
+the China Sea From 1807 to 1810, by Various
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 44261 ***