PIRACY IN THE ENDIAN AR€I11PELAOO. 259 
ved the capture of a junk, by the boats of a pirate squadron, 
to prove likewise the capture of European manned merchant 
ships. 
In the Moniteur des Indes I find the account of the cap¬ 
ture of one English and four American whalers, and beyond 
a doubt amongst the number of vessels taken, which are 
expressly recorded by name, and the greater number un¬ 
recorded, many were merchant vessels with European crews 
either in whole or in part. 
To shew still further the daring of these pirates, I am 
further tempted to mention some of the vessels of war with 
which they have engaged. 
In the year 1812 the British schooner of war Wellington , 
supported by two gun-boats, and six native prahus, attacked 
a piratical squadron and the result is thus described. “ Le 
plus grand navire corsaire accosta Le Wellington que 
n’echappa qu’avec peine a V abordage.” Au mois de mais 
suivant les pirates soutinent un combat contre les Chalou- 
pe armees du navire du guerre le Modesie.” The Nether¬ 
lands cruizer Iris in 1823 engaged the pirates, and it is 
stated that the schooner of war Doris escaped by good 
fortune from the pirate force, which had previously cap¬ 
tured a Dutch cruizer (Temminck vol. II p. 232.) To give 
a just and clear idea of the power and audacity of these 
pirates, we must mention too the force in guns of a man of 
war schooner, and on the authority of Monsieur Temminck 
it is stated that the smallest class schooner carried from 12 
to 14 pieces of cannon, and the piratical fleets, which com¬ 
bined have been asserted as unequal to the capture of a 
Chinese Junk, only failed from bad luck from taking such a 
vessel of war! The assertion of Sir Stamford Raffles that 
even Dutch cruizers had been captured previous to 1811 
is fully confirmed by Temminck, and the capture at a subse¬ 
quent period of four Dutch cruizers is recorded by that 
gentleman. Yet, the public is led to believe that piracy 
in the Eastern Seas is a mere nuisance and not formidable . 
When the writer in the Examiner asserts that piratical 
pursuits are incompatible with industry, with good houses 
and neat gardens, he forgets that piracy has been consider¬ 
ed heretofore an honorable pursuit, and he might with equal 
justice have asserted that Louis XIV would not love war 
and fine buildings, or that the Duke of Wellington, the 
warrior of the age, was incapable of enjoying the luxuries 
of Apsly house, or appreciating the beauties of his park at 
Strathfieldsay, One fact however ought to convince before 
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