6o.
c.3.0.on Age.
CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT.
HONGKONG: FRIDAY, 26 JUNE, 1868.
The Capture of the "Lesmona." The following account of the capture of the North-German barque Leemont, has been prepared by Captain Steinicke, and will be read with some interest. The only suspicious circumstance in the affair is the statement to the effect that the Chinese passengers hoisted two lanterns in the mizzen rigging, which may or may not have been a signal to the pirates. The suffering of the captain and his crew must have been ex- tremely painful, and the conduct of the natives of Hainan is only what may be ex- pected from the inhabitants of such a wild coast. That the Lesmona was insufficiently armed, there is no doubt, but such an un- pected attack will doubtless teach captains of small coasting vessels to provide their ships with something better than three- pounder guns for throwing rockets. The following is the captain's account of the affair:--
On the 20th of May, 1868, we left Hongkong roads in the Lesmond, in every way seaworthy. having a general cargo and twelve Chinese passengers for Faigon. The wind, which was easterly on our departure, veered afterwards nore to the southward, and induced us to take the inuer route. between Haitan and the Para celles. On the 25th, at noon, we were by obser vation in lat. 18 deg. 11 min. N., lon. 110 deg. 48 min. E., wind very light from 8. to S.S.E., there being a short distance from us three junks. which we thought to be fishing vessels and not of a suspicious character, one of thew was about a quarter of a mile astern of us, another a little more to leeward ahead, and the third to leeward astern about one viile distant,
While we were taking our dinner we heard a gun fired, whereupon I immediately went on deck, and ascertained from one of the seaman, by name G. Diesmeyer, who was at the wheel, that the shot was fired from the next junk astern of us, which at the same time had hoisted a red flag.
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I instantly ordered the small fire arms with ammunition, powder, and shot for the two guns on deck to be carried up, while the pirates, with the help of sweeps were nearing our vessel fast. The yards were then braced sharp in, to impel the vessel faster through the water, but it was of no avail, the wind being to light. The small three, pounder on the poop was only made to be used for throwing fire rockets, Bo the distance between us and the junk TAG yet too great to allow, balls take effect. The cannister shots which followed in quick succession out of two apparently six-pounders, on the fore deck of the pirate, now swept our decks and tore the sails and rigging; it was therefore deemed advisable by the officers and myself to wait until the pirate was going to board our vessel, and theu to drive him back by musketry. The eight double-barrelled breech-loading muskets were loaded by the carpenter, and distributed among the crew, the passengers having by this time hidden themselves below.
The pirate then, under a sustained fire of guns and muskets, approached nearer the vessel, and the crew, with the exception of the able scaman, S. Winter, refused to defend themselves, although the mate explained to them that by cowardly surrendering they would not save their lives; nevertheless, they insisted upon re- fusing, and demanded that the gig, which was laying on the poop, should be launched. This, however, I would not permit, because it would have been sure destruction both of boat and
men.
Shortly after the pirates boarded, after having thrown some stink-pots on deck, I went into the cabin and the officers and men forward. Three of the pirates then watched the entrances of the cabin, while some spiked the gun on the fore- castle, and the rest, about 20 or 25 men alto- gether, demanded the money, which was on board; they said I had $1,000 in my possession, and a box of treasure belonging to the cargo. Upon explanation that there was no money on board, they insisted upon taking what they liked of the cargo, for which purpose some of the crew had to assist them in opening hoxes and bales and hand them on deck, from whence the contents were transferred to the piratical eraft
there was taken chiefly copper and brass ware, silks, trinketa, and other valuable articles, the abovenamed S. Winter being kept all the time by the pirates on derk to steer the ship, and he had to keep her on a North Easterly course.
After baring pillaged until dark, and having destroyed in the cabin everything which they could not make use of, such as instruments, books, charts, and papers, they confined me together with the crew and passengers in the coal locker in the fore peak, under the between decks of the vessel. a room of about 350 cubic feet, secured the batch of it by મ stream anchor and chains, shut the batches on deck, and fastened them by the iron bars attached. The sailumaker, named Harras, how- ever, effected bis escape, and stowed himself away in the baut of the upper main-topsail. As soon as the hatches were shut, the proposal was renewed to the crew, which was made several times during the afternoon-that was, to take the knives which were in a box laying be- tween other goods, and to attack the pirates. Although the crew showed little inclination to follow this idea, a hole was nevertheless cut by the carpenter with a pocket knife in the bulkhead, which divided the coal-locker from the hold; by this aperture 1 entered the cargo room, with the mate, carpenter, and H. Winter, and by opening packages and emptying some of their contents, we succeeded after several hours labour in effecting an opening sufficiently large to admit a man to crawl through. Shortly after the shutting of the hatches we heard a thumping against the ship's side, which con- vinced us that the pirates were scuttling the vessel. After having effected the passage through the cargo-room I sent the mate, carpenter and H. Winter aft to secure the knives, an1 forced open the fore-batch myself to reconnoitre the whereabouts of the pirates. I then found no- body on deck, the piratical junk then laying a short distance from the ship. Returning to the fore-hatch to release the crew, I was in- formed by the men that the water was rushing in strongly under the stern of the ship, and having convinced myself that the ship was list- ing over to port very oneb, and in a sinking condition, I ordered the boats to be launched. The lougboat, which I intended to have lowered first, was so much cut up by the pirates that it was entirely useless; the other boat had four large holes in the bottom, which were patched up with canvas, blankets, &c., and then lowered over the side.
During the time the crew were engaged with this business, and I was searching for the ship's papers, some of the passengers had hoisted in the mizzen-rigging two lanterns, although they refused a short while before to come on deck. By this treacherous act I was forced to leave the ship, after cutting adrift spare spars, water-casks, &c., no time being allowed to construct a raft, on recount of the dangerous neighbourhood of the pirates. In the boat were twelve persons, and in the leaky state of it this situation was not much better than that on board of the ship.
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