the boat deck on the port side also aft of the same grille. The two guards who were off duty, Nizam Din, Guard No. 66, and Hayat Khan, Guard No. 299, were in their room which was on the boat deck aft of the engine room skylight.
The course of the ship was set for the south-west corner of Lantao Island. The voyage to Hongkong was expected to take about four hours from wharf to wharf.
On this evening the weather was fair. Sunset occurred at 5.39 p.m.
The pirates commenced operations shortly after sunset and while it was still day- light, the ship being in a “Danger Zone" as defined by the Piracy Regulations.
It was customary on this ship for fares to be collected on board during the voyage, tickets being issued to passengers and collected subsequently from them. The first and second class passengers' fares and tickets were collected by the Purser. The third class accommodation was farmed out to the Ship's compradore. The moment chosen by the pirates coincided with the time when the compradore had finished collecting the tickets from third class passengers and was returning from the lower deck to the main deck by one of the after companions.
The pirates' attack commenced on the main deck among the second class passengers, and there only. It does not appear that any simultaneous steps were taken by them among the first class or the third class passengers. The pirates fired on the two Indian guards posted on the main deck; Rakhman Shah was hit while Noor Mahomed escaped unhurt on to the boat deck through the after companion on the port side. Pirates then came up on to the boat deck by both companions. They were all armed with firearms of different kinds. One Indian Guard, Cheggattah Khan, was seen to go down to the main deck from the boat deck by the port side companion in order to deal with the trouble below, but he would seem to have returned to the boat deck where he was afterwards observed lying wounded.
The initial attack upon the engine room and the bridge seems to have been conducted by not more than ten pirates who fired on the two guards on duty on the main deck and then proceeded to the boat deck.
On the boat deck shots were exchanged between the guards and the pirates. Immediately on realising what had happened the Master ordered his guards to follow him to the bridge. He ran towards the bridge along the boat deck on the port side, but was almost immediately shot from behind and fell near the engine room skylight. Cheggattah Khan, who had returned to the boat deck, was also shot down aft of the engine room skylight. Noor Mahomed and Fazal Din fought a retiring action. Noor Mahomed observed a pirate standing over Captain Birss and shot him, inflicting a wound. He himself was shot down near the smoking room. Fazal Din was wounded, but reached the bridge. He had expended all his revolver ammunition, and while he was loading his rifle which had been carried, by order of the Master, unloaded he received a blow on the head from the butt end of a revolver and was rendered unconscious. The two guards who were off duty were at once overpowered.
The guards who were on duty were armed as follows:
(a.) Noor Mahomed, Guard No. 256. One six-chambered revolver loaded with
six rounds of ammunition.
(b.) Rakhman Shah, Guard No. 211. One six-chambered revolver loaded with
six rounds of ammunition, also four additional rounds of ammunition. (c.) Fazal Din, Guard No. 13. One six-chambered revolver loaded in four chambers only, also six additional rounds of ammunition, also one rifle, unloaded, with twelve rounds of ammunition.
(d.) Cheggattah Khan, Guard No. 46.
amount of ammunition unknown.
One revolver and one rifle with an
His rifle also was unloaded.
All guards on duty were provided with whistles.
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