94 
t 
VOYAGK OF THE POTOMAC* 
[December, 
Soo-soo, demanding the restoration of the ship. The rajah re- 
pHed that he would not give her up, but that they were welcome 
to take her, if they could ! A fire was now opened from the ves- 
sels on the Friendship, whose decks were crowded with Malays, 
who promptly returned the fire, as did also the forts on shore. 
This mode of warfare appeared undecisive, and it was determined 
to decide the contest by a close action. A number of boats being 
manned and armed, with about thirty officers and men, a move- 
ment was made to carry the Friendship by boarding. The Ma- 
lays did not wait the approach of this well-armed and determined 
attack, but all deserted the vessel to her lawful owners ; when 
she Avas taken possession of, and soon warped out into deep 
water. 
The poor fellows whom we left at Cape Felix soon came to a 
determination to turn back, pass Quallah-Battoo in the night, if 
possible, and proceed to Muckie ; on Wednesday, the eleventh, at 
midnight, they found themselves in the neighbourhood of Quallah- 
Battoo, and, taking a canoe, they passed safely to, Pulo Kio. At 
daylight in the morning, Po Adam discovered them from his fort, 
and took them in. They were in a wretched arid suffering con- 
dition, having swum ashore with but few clothes, and were se- 
verely blistered by the sun. In the course of the day they joined 
their ship. The wounded men, together with the Italian, Gregory, 
who gave himself up from the crosstrees, were afterward ran- 
somed for ten dollars each. T'he killed were Mr. Knight, George 
Chester, and John Davis. The voyage was of course abandoned, 
and the Friendship returned to Salem. 
Who cannot see, from the perusal of these incidents, that this 
piracy was the deliberate act of the rajahs, principal traders, and 
inhabitants of Quallah-Battoo ? The manner of changing the 
boat's crew at the mouth of the river ; the signals concerted be- 
tween the assassins and the chiefs and populace on shore ; the 
ready attack made by the sampan to cut off the retreat of Captain 
Endicott ; the corresponding shouts and exultations when the flags 
or signals of success were seen from the vessel ; the robbing the 
Friendship ; the refusal of the rajah to deliver her up, and the at- 
tempt to defend her, by firing from the forts on shore, all stamp 
their proceedings with the character of outlaws, meriting the most 
summary chastisement. 
