328 MOEE CKUISING AFTER PIRATES. 



they went, and made a hasty and undignified retreat on 

 shore. I now anchored. They then manned the guns 

 in their battery, situated immediately abreast of the 

 gun-boat, and in front of the town. Before, however, 

 they fired, I sent a big shot in their direction, which 

 cleared them out. 



As we had steamed in, we passed a large salt junk, 

 whose crew appeared dancing about the deck like 

 lunatics. They were certainly in the wildest state of 

 joy at being released from captivity. They mustered 

 twenty -seven in all, and were soon well on their way 

 to Hong-Kong. Little had they expected, an hour 

 before, to get off without paying the heavy ransom 

 demanded. 



I decided to take the battery and utterly destroy 

 the place. Taking all my crew except three, not of 

 course counting the Chinese part of it, I landed at a 

 point a little way down, to avoid some swampy ground 

 abreast their guns. We could also land here under good 

 shelter, and afterwards approach within 200 yards 

 without being seen ; this we did, and then had a good 

 look at the formidable array of men drawn up in front 

 of the village. There could not have been less than 

 300, but there might have been 500. Two or three, 

 who walked up and down in front of the rest, kept 



