Emigration
to Cuba.
Coolie Contract for Service- Copy of
Enclosure I in Gove
Im Ga
Graves
Dir
Richard Grown MarDonnel's Dispatch Nr. 318 of Ith July
1887-
The Daily Press.
Prif" 27th May, 1867.
61
Piracy and Murder on the Coast of Cochin-China.
In the Echo do Povo of the 14th inst., is a memorial addressed by the Rev. Father Ron- dina, principal of the college of St. Joseph, to Sr. João Ferreira Pintos, chief-justice of Macao, containjug a report of a case of piracy and murder of the coast of Cochin-China, and also throwing some light on the system of "coolie emigration," as practised at Macao. The following are the principal facts stated in the memorial:--
Sometime in February last a fleet of five junka, manned by crew of 100 Anamite sol- diers, armed with two cannon, and one hundred muskets, were dispatched by the governor of the province of Nha thang, in Cochin China, loaded with the annual tribute of that province to the Government of Auam. This tribute consisted of Ts. 200,000 in silver, 8,000 piculs of rice valued at Tls. 16,000 and Tls. 1,000 worth of general merchandize. It had been the custom for years to send this tribute along the coast and nothing had ever happened to the vessels conveying the treasure, consequently it was deemed superfluous to arm the junks heavily It appears however that on this occasion a party of Cantonese pirates were informed of the move- ments of this little flect and determined to intercept them.
On the 20th February last, when only a day's sail from Nha-thang, they were attacked by a party of ten piratical Cantonese junks, all heavily armed with 18 and 24 pounder guns, from five to three in each junk, and a numerous crew with gingalls, spears &c. &c. On approaching the five junks the piratical fleet opened a heavy fire which was kept up for some time, killing a number of the Anamite soldiers and wounding two of their principal officers, and the unfor tunate Aparuites seeing that resistance was useless against such fearful odds surrendered at discretion, but on the near approach of the pirates some sixty or so of them in despair. jumped overboard. Some of these were drowned and some succeeded in reaching the shore. Immediately on boarding the junks, the pirates fearing that the rest of their victime might escape in the same manner as some of their unfortunate countrymen had done, securely bound the remainder and transferred them together with the cargo and money from the Anamite junks, into their own vessels. They then beheaded the two wounded Aaamite officers and made sail, leaving the plundered junks without a soul on board. The piratical fleet put into Bahchoi bay, where they found two Macao lorchasat anchor, and the prisoners and a bag of money were transferred from the pirate junks to these craft which at once got under weigh and made sail for Macao, where they arrived an eight o'clock on the morning of April 2nd, and ran alongside a wharf. There were two Macaenese on board the lorcha into which the prisoners were placed, oneof them a wam ap- parently about forty years of age, tall and long faced, lean and thick lipped, with pro minent teeth and brown hair. The other was short stout man with a scar on his fore- head, which he received in a previous ma- rauding expedition, from ther husband of a woman he was attempting to steal, and who wears his hat over his brows to hide the sear. The unfortunate Anamite slaves were then landed and placed in the barracoon 12 Ruta de St. Jose, when they were visited by an interpreter who understood their dialect but indifferently well, and who made them tempting offers to emigrate. He told them that they had just been rescued from the hands of cruel pirates by the kindness of a Europeau Mandarin, and this disinterested individual far from wishing for
any reward for his bumanity, merely wanted them to work in his country for eight years, at the end of which time they could return bome. The conditions under which they were to be employed would be most favorable. They were to have $5 per month and two suits of clothing per annum, and to be provided with plenty of the best of food. Rewards too, would be given to the most deserving, and they were asked, at once to sign a paper agreeing to these terms. Some of these untutored people were cajoled and enticed into signing away their liberty in this manner, but others steadily refused, and held out against all inducements. These latter were at fit neunraged and tempted with the offer of extra pay, but sixteen still remained obdurate and refused to sign the required paper on any terms. These were conveyed back again on board the loreha in which they had arrived, where they were put down in the hold with only enough rice given them to keep body and soul together. and hardly any water. Their suf- ferings were intense, and when they begged and prayed for a little more-rater they were told that they would get no more if they refused to accept the offers that had been made them and Isign the necessary contract. Eventually theae unfortunate wretches succumbed to this dread- ful torture, and to save their lives agreed to bar- ter away their liberty. They were then removed back to the barracoqus, where some of them could not refrain from deploring their hard fate. and on their cries being heard they were at once unmercifully lashed, by a negro, paid for the purpose.
The facts as to the treatment of these Anamites in Macao can only be substantiated by the statements of the dep themselves, but the fact of their having been taken pirates and transhipped to a Macas Jorenia can be proved by the testimony of Father Perriere, à French missionary resident in Nha thang who was returning in a junk from that place to Hongkong, and who was close by at the time and saw the whole affair, as well as two of his assistants and the crew of bis junk, who are at prescut in : Macao,
Immediately on his arrival here, Father Perriere communicated what he had seen to his brother priests and to the Captain of the Messagerios Imperiales steamer. The report reached the brotherhood at Macao, private Lonquiries were made in different directions and a young Anamite boy was discovered in the Bervice of a Chinese woman. On being questioned, this boy said that he had made one of a party of fifty,one of them his father, who had been kidnap- pod from their native country, brought to Macao and all sold with the exception of himself. Further inquiries were then made, and it was discovered that there were a number of Anamites confined in the barracoons, and twenty or more on board the Spanish steamer Catutuna, now loading at Msono for Havana. Eleven of those confined in the barracoons were released when it was discovered that troublesome questions were being agitated about them, and these men were taken into the College of St. Joseph where they still remain. Ten are yet confined in the barracoons, and the rest are already shipped on board the Cataluna.
The memorial concludes by expressing a hope that the Chief Justice will see into this little! matter without delay, and cause the men to be themselves examined before him, partienlarly those on board the Cataluna, as that vessel will shortly leave port.
It is reported in the Echo of the 21st instant, that the chief of the pirates who originally at tacked the Anamite junks has been found in a house in Macao, and recognised by several of the men in College. Some of the property taken from them has also been found in the same house, and the man himself is at present detained in custody.