on arriving at rhodes, wilkinson and edgar rowed ashore as soon as the anchor was dropped, and called upon the turkish governor. they were received with[pg 252] much honour, and the governor was delighted to hear the news, which they were the first to bring, that the french had abandoned the siege of acre and were retreating in all haste to egypt. he gave orders for a salute to be fired at once in honour of this great success, and then asked wilkinson what he could do for him, assuring him that he would put all the resources of the island at his disposal. edgar, as interpreter, assured the governor that they had no occasion to avail themselves largely of the offer, but that, in consequence of the amount of ammunition expended in the siege they were short of both powder, ball, and musketry ammunition, and would be very much obliged for as large a supply as he could spare them. he gave orders at once for the issue to him of as much as they required. edgar then went on:
"the object of our coming here, sir, is to endeavour to check the piracy that is now being carried on among the islands. numerous complaints have reached sir sidney smith from turkish, british, and greek merchants; ships are constantly missing, and there is no doubt that they have been captured and scuttled, and their crews massacred."
"your ship is a small one for such a purpose," the governor said, for from the divan on which he was sitting he commanded a view of the port.
"i hope that she is large enough," edgar replied; "she is heavily armed for her size, and she is a fast sailer. sir sidney smith had no larger vessel at his disposal, as he needs the two men-of-war and the small frigate for watching the egyptian coast, and, indeed, had he been able to send a larger craft, it would not have been so well suited for the purpose, for the pirates would hardly have ventured to attack her. we shall, after we have put out to sea, dis[pg 253]guise the brig and rig her as a merchantman in order to tempt them out. we shall not do it until we are well away, for the pirates may have friends here who might send them information. we shall head for the south, and shall give out that we are to rejoin our commander off alexandria, as we have only come round here to give you news of the retreat of the french. we shall be glad if you will furnish us with two men having a thorough knowledge of the islands, and of the spots where the piratical craft are most likely to harbour. they must be trusty men who will not open their lips here as to our designs."
"i can find you two such men," the governor said. "they both used to be captains of craft that traded among the islands, but now own several vessels; some of these have disappeared, and they are continually coming up here and pestering us with their complaints, though i have told them again and again that i can do nothing in the matter; i know that they would very gladly go with you in order to aid in the punishment of the pirates."
such indeed turned out to be the case. edgar had a long talk with them, and learned from them the spots where it was supposed that the pirates had their rendezvous, as many vessels whose course had lain near them had disappeared. he asked them to go into the town and gather what further information they could from men whose craft had been chased but had succeeded in getting away, and told them to be at the landing-place after dark so that their passage to the ship would be unnoticed, for they agreed with him that undoubtedly many of the pirates had agents at rhodes and other important ports, and that intelligence was carried by small, quick-sailing craft, to the pirates, of vessels likely to be valuable prizes. an abundant supply of ammunition was taken off to the brig in the course of[pg 254] the afternoon, and the supply of fresh provisions replenished.
the two young officers dined with the governor, who had a large party in their honour, including many of the military authorities. the next morning they started at six, and held their course south until they were sure that the brig could no longer be seen even from the highest point on the island, and at four bells in the afternoon changed their course, and, sailing between scarpanto and carso, headed north and passed before nightfall between slazida and placa. the crew had been busy painting a broad yellow line round the brig, in slackening the rigging, and giving the vessel the appearance of a slovenly merchant brig. they had learned from the turks that although undoubtedly acts of piracy took place in the western archipelago, these were comparatively isolated acts committed upon small vessels becalmed near one or other of the islands, the attacks being made in boats, but that it was among the numerous islands lying off the coast of asia minor between nicaria and samos on the north, and serrest and piscopia on the south, that piracy was most frequent.
as a rule, they said, vessels coming down from the dardanelles kept well west of mitylene and chios, rounded naxos and syra and bore south to santorin before shaping their course east, if bound for syria, so as to avoid the dangerous neighbourhood. to begin with, they advised that the course should be laid so as to pass a short distance east of astropalaia. this, they said, had long been one of the headquarters of piracy. it had, before the war began, been several times attacked by turkish or european ships of war, the craft found there burnt, and the coast villages destroyed; but since then it was believed that it had again become the headquarters of pirates from some of the other[pg 255] islands, as its position was a favourable one for attack, lying in the direct lines of traffic between both constantinople and greece and the eastern trades with rhodes, cyprus, syria, or egypt.
the night was fine, with a gentle breeze. a sharp look-out was kept for two groups of tiny islands that were scarce more than rocks, that had to be passed before nearing astropalaia. the breeze died away at daybreak, and left the vessel becalmed at a distance of some six miles from the island.
"we could not be better placed," one of the turks said. "you see the group of islands at the mouth of that bay; they are called the pirate rocks, and in the old days every one of those rocks was the stronghold of a pirate ship. thirty years ago four turkish frigates caught eighteen piratical craft lying at anchor behind their shelter, and destroyed every one of them, but it was not long before others took their places."
"if there were a good wind blowing, edgar, i should like nothing better than to sail right in there," wilkinson said, "but in this light breeze those fellows would run away from us with their big sails and their sweeps."
"if there are any of them in there now," one of the turks remarked as wilkinson closely surveyed the islets through his glass, "most likely they have made you out before this. i only hope there will not be too many of them."
"the more the merrier!" wilkinson laughed as edgar translated this. "with ten guns and sixty blue-jackets we ought to be able to beat off any number of the scoundrels. ask him how many guns these fellows generally mount?"
the turk shook his head.
"they are of all sizes; some are only row-boats, without[pg 256] guns at all, and carrying perhaps not more than a dozen men. two will row, and the rest lie down in the bottom. they will have some fruit, perhaps, piled up in the stern, and as they row up to a small craft at anchor or becalmed, there are no suspicions of their real character until they get close alongside. then they leap up, and carry the vessel before the crew have time to arm themselves. if she is very small and useless to them, they will take out everything of value, fasten the prisoners down below, and scuttle her; if she is larger, they will tow her into some little bay and take out the cargo in boats at their leisure, cut the throats of the prisoners, alter the appearance of the ship so that she cannot be recognized, engage a dozen more hands, and set up on a larger scale.
"some of the craft are used as fishing-boats when times are quiet and there are ships of war about, while the larger ones may go into trade. some of the smaller craft will carry a couple of guns, the larger ones eight or ten, but these are generally much smaller than yours, though sometimes they are armed with cannon taken from prizes; but, as a rule, they do not trust at all to their guns. they do not wish to draw attention by their sound to what is going on, and they either attack at night and carry their prey by boarding, or, if it be in the day, the crew are sent below, the guns hidden, and they have so peaceful an aspect that it is only when they change their course suddenly, when within a few hundred yards, that any alarm is excited, and they are alongside before a trader can load his guns, and, as they are crowded with men, carry her before any serious resistance can be offered."
with a tremendous cheer, flung themselves upon the pirates
with a tremendous cheer, flung themselves upon the pirates
page 262
at rhodes they had taken on board a dozen bucket-loads of earth. the night before, some of these had been emptied into a large tub, which was then filled up with water and[pg 257] stirred briskly, after which the sailors had gone aloft and wetted the sails with muddy water, rendering their appearance dingy in the extreme. here and there white patches had been left, which gave the sails the appearance of being old and recently mended, and with the yards set at different angles and slackened rigging, the tigress would not have been recognized as the smart craft that had, twenty-four hours before, sailed from rhodes. the sailors were all in high glee. after the hard work they had had at acre they looked upon this as a holiday, and entered with the greatest zest into the work of disguising the ship.
"now, lads, you must sit down," wilkinson said, "and only five or six heads must be shown above the bulwarks. they doubtless have some good glasses taken from the ships they have captured, and if they saw that we had an unusually strong crew they might smell a rat."
it was now a dead calm, the sails hung idly down, and the brig lay almost motionless on a waveless sea.
"i am pretty sure that i can make out the upper spars of two or three craft behind that long, low islet, wilkinson," edgar said after, for the twentieth time, gazing long and earnestly through his telescope.
"i fancied so two or three times, edgar, but i am by no means sure that it is not fancy. i felt more sure of it at first than i do now, for there is a slight mist rising from the water. if they don't come out to us by the afternoon we will go in and have a look at them. we have got half a dozen sweeps on board, and with those and the boats we could work her in in a couple of hours."
"i hope we sha'n't have to do that," edgar replied. "they would guess what we were at once, and would be scattering in all directions. we might pick up one or two, the rest would get off and carry news of us to all the islands round."[pg 258]
"perhaps you are right," wilkinson agreed. "it would certainly be unfortunate to begin by giving them a scare."
"besides," edgar went on, "if the calm holds till night, they may come out and try to take us by surprise."
the day passed very slowly. the heat was great, and the men picked out spots on the deck where the sails threw a shade, and dosed off to sleep. they had, long before, made every preparation; the cutlasses had been ground, the boarding-pikes sharpened, and the pistols loaded and primed. piles of shot lay by the side of the guns, and it needed only to fetch up the powder cartridges from the magazine to be ready for action. the marines had cleaned and loaded all the muskets, and placed them in the racks. at two o'clock, after dinner had been eaten, wilkinson said to the boatswain:
"the starboard-watch can sling their hammocks and turn in if they like. if these fellows mean to come out and attack us, they will hardly do it before it becomes dark; perhaps not until two or three o'clock in the morning, and as we shall have to be watchful, there is no occasion for both watches to stay on deck now. the port watch shall go off from two bells till eight; as they take the first watch they will be all the brighter for a snooze beforehand."
"i wish the beggars would come out and have done with it," he went on to edgar, as the boatswain turned away and blew his whistle. "i think i may as well go down, as it is your watch on deck. have me roused when they change at two bells if i don't wake of my own accord."
contrary to their usual custom in a calm, the earnest desire of all on board was that it should continue, for should a breeze spring up they would be forced to sail away, and the pirates might not pursue them. as soon as it got dark, wilkinson told the boatswain that it would be as well that[pg 259] a song should be started occasionally, but that not more than five or six men were to join in chorus. if, as they came out, they heard a dead silence they might think it unnatural, and it was quite possible that a boat would come on ahead of them to try and make out what they really were. in the intervals between the songs silence reigned, and all on deck listened intently.
about nine o'clock edgar exclaimed: "i can hear oars!"
"so can i," wilkinson replied, after listening for a minute. "i don't think that they are sweeps. no, it is a boat rowed by either two or four men—four, i think."
in a minute or two they were satisfied that it was but a boat. the order was given for another song, after which three or four men were to talk and the rest to sit down below the bulwarks and to keep silence. the two turks took their places near the officers. from the speed at which the boat was approaching it was certain that she was not deeply laden, and there was no fear, therefore, of a surprise being attempted. she passed within twenty yards of the tafrail, and they could make out that she was an ordinary fisherman's boat. there was a pile of nets in the stern, and four men were standing up rowing.
"i wish we could get a little wind!" one of them called out.
"we wish so, too," one of the turks answered. "we have been lying becalmed all day."
"bound for constantinople, i suppose?" came from the boat.
"no, for smyrna. we are bringing a cargo from ancona, and shall load up at smyrna with fruit."
with a turkish good-night the men rowed on, and the singer forward at once began another song. for a quarter of an hour they could hear the sound of the oars growing fainter and fainter, then it ceased.[pg 260]
"they have rowed straight on till they think they are out of hearing," wilkinson said. "now they will make a circuit and go back to their friends with the news. there is no doubt we are in luck if we get a brush with them the first night after our arrival on our cruising ground."
about three o'clock in the morning a confused sound could be heard. in two or three minutes every man was at his post.
"there are only two, or at most three of them," edgar said, in a tone of disappointment, "and i doubt whether they are not big rowing-boats. the strokes are too quick for either sweeps or for boats towing. what a beastly nuisance! i suppose when these fellows took back the report, that though we were a good-sized brig we did not seem to have many hands, they thought that it was not worth while to tow out a big craft when row-boats would do. they think that with twelve or fifteen hands in each boat, and the advantage of surprise, they would be able to overpower us at once."
"the surprise will be the other way," wilkinson said angrily. "we shall send them all three to the bottom at the first broadside."
"i don't think i should do that, wilkinson; for, if you do, there is an end of our chance of capturing any of their larger craft."
"of course i see that; that is the annoying part of the business. what do you propose, then?"
"i should say that the best plan would be, not to hail them until they get close on board, then for a man forward to give a sudden shout, as if he had been asleep on his watch and had only just heard them. then they will come tumbling on board, thinking that the ship is already theirs. we might divide our men, and keep them half forward and[pg 261] half aft. the moment they all get on board, rush down upon them. tell off six men, with orders to jump down into their boats as soon as they can, and to push them off, so as to cut off their retreat. the boats will be very useful to us, for we can tow the brig in with them. the people in there will think that she has been captured, and we shall get right in the middle of them before they find out that they have caught a tartar."
"by jove, that is a first-rate idea!"
to their surprise, the men were at once called away from their guns and divided into two parties. edgar and the boatswain commanded that gathered forward, wilkinson and the gunner that aft. nine men were told off for the capture of the boats, for, as edgar pointed out, when the pirates found that they were caught in a trap, a good many of them might leap overboard and try to get into the boats, and it might need fully three men to keep them off.
"now, lads, you understand," wilkinson said, as the parties were about to take up their places, "you must crouch down and keep yourselves perfectly quiet until the word is given; it is important to get them all on board. when they see no one on deck they will think that the one or two men who might be on the watch have run below. you can use your pistols freely when the fighting once begins. when the fellows find that they are trapped, they are likely enough to fight hard, and i don't want to lose any men. keep your cutlasses in readiness, but trust principally to your boarding-pikes."
the boats were but four or five hundred yards away when the crew of the tigress took up their position. a minute later one of the men in the bow shouted suddenly:[pg 262]
"there are boats coming!—quick, on deck!—pirates! pirates!"
then four or five men down in the forecastle also shouted, ran up on deck, and then, with cries of alarm, ran below again, and then, but quietly this time, joined their comrades, who were crouching as closely together as possible forward of the bitts. there was a roar of voices from the boats. they could hear the oars plied desperately; then closely following this came three bumps against the side of the brig, and, clambering up the chains, the pirates poured tumultuously upon the deck, breaking into a shout of triumph as they met with no resistance. there was a pause of astonishment as the guns were seen; then their leader shouted that these could be but dummies, intended to run out and frighten people in the daytime.
"down below, men!" one shouted; "finish with them first; it will be time to talk afterwards."
one of the turks, who spoke a little french, crouching by the side of wilkinson, translated his words. some of the pirates rushed towards the forecastle, others aft to the cabins, where they would find the officers. then some figures crawled out from below the tarpaulins that were loosely thrown over the guns, looked over the rail, and then sprang down into the boats, which were entirely deserted. as they did so there was a shout from wilkinson; it was answered by edgar, and then five-and-twenty seamen sprang up from each end of the vessel, and with a tremendous cheer flung themselves upon the pirates. taken completely by surprise, and somewhat outnumbered, many of these were cut down or run through by the pikes before anything like serious resistance could be offered; then, headed by their leaders, they fought with the desperation of cornered animals.[pg 263]
all of them carried pistols as well as yataghans. some few of them ran to the side, and with yells of fury leaped overboard to recapture the boats. pistols cracked on both sides, cutlass and yataghan clashed together; but the british shouts rose high over the yells of the pirates. in three minutes the fighting was virtually over, the greater portion of the pirates lay dead on the deck; a few had jumped overboard, and the rest, throwing down their arms, fell on their knees and cried for mercy.
"that will do, men—that will do!" wilkinson shouted; "scoundrels as they are, we cannot kill them in cold blood. get some lengths of rope, boatswain, and tie them hand and foot."
the men who had leapt into the water and swam towards the boats did not attempt to climb in when they saw three sailors in each, standing with cutlass and pistol ready to oppose them, and they swam back towards the brig. a rope was thrown to them, and they were permitted to climb up one by one, being bound and laid by their comrades as they gained the deck. none of the sailors had been killed, though several had received ugly gashes.
"now, boatswain, put the starboard watch into the boats; lower the two ship's boats also—we will get as many oars to work as possible till daylight."
each of the captured boats rowed six oars, and thirty men were soon at work towing the vessel towards the bay. the port watch then set to work to clear the deck. the dead were all thrown overboard; the others were unbound, made to strip off their jackets, then bound again and carried down to the hold, the hatchway being closed on them. they found that most of the survivors were greeks, the turks having to a man fallen fighting.
"these mixed crews are worst of all," one of the turks[pg 264] said. "the turkish pirates are bad enough, and so are the greeks—there is little to choose between them; but it is only the worst desperadoes who will consort together. you did wrong to spare a man."
"we could not kill them when they threw down their arms," wilkinson said. "we will hand them over to your authorities, either at smyrna or at rhodes. they will make short work of them, i fancy."
as soon as the first gleam of dawn appeared in the sky the boats were called alongside. those of the tigress were hoisted up, and the men in the others were given the jackets of the prisoners, some having turbans and some the greek headgear. these garments had also been stripped from the dead before the bodies were thrown overboard, and were laid in a heap in readiness for those on deck to put on when they approached the bay. when it became daylight they were not more than a mile and a half from the islands. the men in the boats had been warned not to row too regularly; and those on board had already put on their disguises. as they passed between two of the islets exclamations of satisfaction burst from wilkinson and edgar, for six vessels were anchored behind the largest of these. the brig's head was turned towards them, and as they approached shouts of welcome and exultation could be heard from their crews.
the craft were of various sizes, two of them were not above thirty tons burden, and each carried two light guns, the others were from fifty to a hundred and fifty tons, and carried from six to twelve guns. the tigress was within about four hundred yards of the line when the helm was put down, as if to take her in between two of the largest craft. then wilkinson, who, with edgar, were both in the turkish disguises, waved his hand for the men in the[pg 265] boats to come alongside. as they did so there was a shout of surprise from the crew of the nearest vessel, for there was no mistaking the sailors' white trousers for the baggy integuments of the turks. at the same moment the port-holes opened, the guns were run out, and before the last man had gained the deck, the ten guns poured in their broadsides.
by wilkinson's orders three on each side were trained on the craft nearest to them, the remaining two on each broadside being aimed at the vessels next to these. the guns had all been double-shotted, and at the same moment the broadsides were fired the ensign was run up to the peak. a wild hubbub of shouts of astonishment, fury, and alarm rose from the pirate ships, and were re-echoed by numbers of men belonging to their crews, clustered on the shore, to see the prize brought in. some ran to their guns and began to load them, others jumped into their boats or sprang overboard and swam towards the shore. as fast as the guns on board the tigress could be loaded the fire was kept up, the forward ones sweeping the deck of the craft nearest to them with grape, while the others sent round-shot into those farther away.
it was but for a short time that the pirates thought of fighting; their light guns were no match for the heavy metal of those on board the brig, and in a quarter of an hour after the first shot was fired the largest of their craft had been sunk, and the other five were entirely deserted. the boats were manned, the brig's head was first pulled round until her broadside bore on the shore, then the anchor was dropped, and the guns on the port side opened with grape upon the pirates on shore, and at five or six houses that were perched high on the rock. leaving the boatswain in charge, wilkinson and edgar both took their[pg 266] places in the boats and rowed from ship to ship. all were found empty, and as they agreed that only two of the largest were worth taking away, the other three were burned.
when they were fairly on fire the boats returned to the brig. not a pirate was to be seen on the island, though they were sure that although numbers of them had been killed, there must still be fully two hundred of them there, but they must either have hidden among rocks or made their way down to the seaward face. as several boatloads might have rowed away to other islets, it was decided to take a landing party of five-and-thirty men on shore, for as their operations would be covered by the guns of the brig, there was little probability of the pirates attempting to attack them. as soon as they landed, the sailors, led by the two midshipmen, climbed rapidly up the hill, and without a shot being fired approached the houses on the top. from these a heavy musketry fire suddenly broke out. the men would have rushed forward at once, but wilkinson called out to them to throw themselves down behind shelter, and as they did so a shell flew overhead, struck the largest of the houses and exploded.
shot followed shot rapidly, the fire of the pirates ceased, then wilkinson gave the word, and the sailors leapt up and with a cheer rushed forward. save for a few women the houses were entirely deserted, but some fifty men were seen running down the seaward face. a couple of volleys were poured into these, and then, placing a dozen of the men on guard, the midshipmen entered the houses. the shells had worked great damage. over a score of men lay dead within them, and as many others wounded. the women had been in the cellars, and they were glad to find that none of them had been hurt. these cellars were very extensive, each house having one. several of them were[pg 267] crammed with goods of all sorts, evidently the proceeds of prizes, and of such varied description that they judged that each house formed a storehouse to one vessel, as otherwise the more valuable goods would have been collected together, instead of sails, ship-gear, bales of valuable silks and embroideries from constantinople, broussa, smyrna, chios, alexandria, and syria being mixed promiscuously together.
here too were a quantity of european manufactures, showing that it was not only native craft that had suffered from their depredations. there were numbers of barrels of greek wine, puncheons of rum, cases of bottled wines of different kinds evidently taken from english ships, great quantities of smyrna figs, and of currants, egyptian dates, and sacks of flour.
"this will bring us in a nice lot of prize-money, blagrove," wilkinson said, after they had roughly examined the contents of the great subterranean storehouses. presently a still larger find was made. there was, close to the houses, what appeared to be a well. one of the sailors let down a bucket, and hauling it up found, to his surprise, that it was salt water. the well was deep, but certainly not deep enough to reach down to the sea level, and he carried the bucket to wilkinson and pointed out where he had got the water from.
"there is something curious about this," the latter said. "lower me down in the bucket, lads." as he descended he saw that the well was an ancient one, and probably at one time had been carried very much lower than at present. in some places the masonry had fallen in. at one of these points there was an opening cut into the rock. he called to those above to hoist him up again, and procuring a lamp at one of the houses, he and edgar descended together. entering the passage they found that it widened into a great[pg 268] chamber some forty feet square and thirty high, which was literally crammed with goods.
"i should never have given the fellows credit for having taken the trouble to cut out such a place as this," wilkinson said.
"i have no doubt that it is ancient work," edgar remarked. "i should say that at some time, perhaps when the genoese were masters here, a castle may have stood above, and this was cut either as a storehouse or as a place of confinement for prisoners, or one where the garrison might hide themselves, with provisions enough to last for a long time, in case the place was captured. the pirates may have discovered it in going down to see if the well could be cleared out, and saw that it would make a splendid place of concealment."
"but how about the salt water, edgar?"
"i should say that they cemented the bottom or rammed it with clay to make it water-tight, and that as fresh water was scarce they brought up sea water, so that anyone who happened to look down would see that there was water in it. if, as was probable, it would be the turks who captured the place, they would, when they found that it was salt, not trouble their heads further about the matter. possibly even these pirates may know nothing of the existence of this store, which may have lain here since the last time the turks broke up this nest of pirates, and who, you may be sure, left none of them alive to tell the tale. well, this is a find."
a thorough search was now made of the island, but it was found that the whole of the pirates had made their escape in boats. these had rowed away from the seaward face of the island, so that they were unseen by those on board the brig. before taking any step to carry away the goods, the[pg 269] other islets were all visited and found to be deserted. five or six more magazines of spoil were discovered. these were emptied of their most valuable contents, and the houses all burned to the ground. this operation took two days, and it required six more to transfer the contents of the cellars and great store cavern to the brig. boats had come off on the first day of their arrival from various villages in the bay, conveying one or more of the principal inhabitants, who assured wilkinson that they had no connection whatever with the pirates, and that they were extremely glad that their nest had been destroyed.
wilkinson had little doubt that, although they might not have been concerned in the deeds committed by these men, they must have been in constant communication with them, and have supplied them with fruit and fresh meat and vegetables. however, he told them that he should report their assurances to the turkish authorities, who would, when they had a ship of war available, doubtless send down and inquire into the whole circumstances, an intimation which caused them considerable alarm, as they had no doubt that, if no worse befell them, they would be made to pay heavy fines.
"the only way that you have to show your earnestness in the matter," wilkinson said, "is to organize yourselves. you have no doubt plenty of boats, and the first time that a pirate comes in here row out from all your villages, attack and burn it, and don't leave a man alive to tell the tale. in that way the pirates will very soon learn that they'd better choose some other spot for their rendezvous, and the authorities will be well content with your conduct."
the amount of spoil taken was so great that the tigress, when she set sail again, was nearly a foot deeper in the water than when she entered the bay. the prisoners had been the subject of much discussion. it was agreed that[pg 270] they were probably no worse than their comrades who had escaped, and they did not like the thought of handing them over to be executed. they were, therefore, on the third day after the arrival of the brig, brought up on deck. three dozen lashes were administered to each, then they were given one of the boats in which they had attacked the ship, and told to go.