442 Aclieen. 



ping- off some neighbour's head^ in the playful way our N. "W. 

 Frontier subjects have) had long- been one of the most trusted 

 of the convict warders. Somehow he failed to give satisfaction 

 to the Assistant Superintendent then in charge of Camorta^ and 

 he took it into his head that the latter had reported him to the 

 '' General'^ at Port Blair for reduction. The man was one born 

 to be a leader amongst his fellows ; he had too long virtually 

 ruled the two hundred odd convicts at the station to contem- 

 plate his degradation with equanimity, and he appears to have 

 ■at once made up his mind to escape. He was in immediate 

 -charge of the best boat in the harbour;, and he always prided 

 himself on having it in tip-top order. Directly he conceived 

 that he was in disgrace, he went to an English sailor, in charge 

 of the Hulk at Camorta where the prisoners at one time resided, 

 , (the old Blenheim that many of us remember as one of Green's 

 ^finest passenger ships) and said to him " my boat is very nice, 

 but I wish you would examine it and see if there is anything 

 -you could suggest to make it a better sea-boat, sail faster, &c." 

 The sailor, a very smart young fellow, made many suggestions, 

 all of which. Khoda Buksh, who had become an experienced 

 shipwright amongst other things during his many years confine- 

 ment, carefully carried out. This done he took the " Captaiu 

 of the Hulk" for a little sail with him and the latter pronounced 

 that the boat was now beyond further improvement. 



A certain number of his own crew were M'ahomedans like 

 bimself whom he knew and trusted, but the majority of them he 

 felt would not join. So, at one in the morning, taking only the 

 four men he could rely on, he roused up a number of other con- 

 victs, told them his own crew could not go as they were wanted 

 for other work, that he had to go over to Trinkut to bring cocoa- 

 nuts, and ordered them to come. They obeyed — of course as he 

 was head Jemadar they could not refuse — and the boat started 

 fwith the Jemadar and sixteen men. Soon after they got out of 

 the harbour, some of those not in the secret, observed that they 

 wei'e steering South (the wind was against them), but he ex- 

 plained this by saying- that after getting some way out, they 

 would catch the wind well and run down without trouble to 

 Trinkut ; so the men went on rowing. Presently, however, as 

 day began to dawn and the land was seen to be far away, the 

 ■rowers who had been long protesting and grumbling, suddenly 

 declared that they would go no further. But Khoda Buksh 

 had prepared for this, he instantly produced a gun, his confede- 

 rates hatchets, (the rest were of course unarmed) and vowed 

 that the first who left his oar should be killed. The Jemadar 

 and his friends were armed; and belonged to a bolder and more 



