+
'
418
2.
It appears that a Chinese whose
sons had been kidnapped and for whose ransom certain
robbers in Colowan demanded a very large sum of money,
appealed to the Governor of Macao for assistance in
recovering his sons. The Governor of Macao after verify-
-ing the information directed a force of some 60 men to
proceed to the spot and to effect the rescue of the boys.
As soon as the Portuguese force landed on the island it
was attacked by both robbers and villagers armed with
modern rifles in greatly superior numbers estimated at
2,000.
The Portuguese force held its own
and sent for reinforcements, but on arrival of the latter
it was found impossible to deal satisfactorily with the
pirates who fled to the hills. In the encounter the
Portuguese lost 1 man killed and several wounded and the
pirates are said to have suffered severely.
The measures subsequently adopted
appear to consist in surrounding the base of the island
with a cordon of troops and in patrolling the adjacent
waters with vessels of war in order to prevent escape or
succour. The island is said to be rocky and full of caves
and it is apperently the intention to starve the pirates
out
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