CHAPTER XXI.

The Qualla Battoo Incident.

Qualla Battoo is the name of a small Malay town, which stood on the northwestern coast of Sumatra.  In the month of February, 1831, the Friendship, a trading vessel from Salem, Mass., lay at anchor off the town, taking on board a cargo of pepper.  Her captain, Mr. Endicott, and crew numbered fifteen men.  There being no harbor, the vessel was about half a mile from shore.  The day was oppressively hot and no one on the Friendship put forth more exertion than was absolutely necessary.  Even the swarthy natives seemed to languish in the flaming heat and displayed less vigor in bringing out the pepper in their boats than they did when the sun beat down upon them with its usual rigor.

Captain Endicott understood the treacherous nature of the Malays, and he and his crew kept sharp watch of those who were given the management of the vessel’s boats, owing to the difficult character of the coast which made such a course necessary.

The trade in pepper was almost the only one in which Qualla Battoo engaged.  Captain Endicott, his second mate and four seamen were on shore at the trading station, a little way up the river, superintending the weighing of the pepper.  The first mate and the rest of the crew waited on the vessel to receive and stow away the cargo.  The work had hardly begun when a suspicious proceeding caught the eye of Captain Endicott.

The first boat, after receiving its load, passed the short distance necessary down the river to the sea, where, instead of rowing directly out to the ship, it turned up the coast and took on board more men.  The Captain concluded the crew needed this additional help to work their way through the heavy surf.  But, not wholly satisfied, he told two of his men to go nearer the shore, keep their eyes on the boat and report to him anything that looked wrong.

Captain Endicott, from his position, was unable to catch the full significance of the first action of the natives in charge of the outgoing boat, for, instead of taking on board more help, the whole unarmed party stepped ashore and twice as many fully armed warriors took their places.  They carefully concealed their weapons and the Americans on the vessel made the same mistake as their captain in believing they were merely the additions necessary to help work the craft through the surf.

They tied fast to the gangway and most of them climbed over the side with their daggers hidden in their clothing.  The mate would have stopped them, but they pretended not to understand his words and acted as if interested in the appearance of the guns and rigging.  Their conduct was so natural that the mate and his men gave their whole attention to taking the pepper on board and stowing it away.  The mate was absorbed in his work, when suddenly several Malays sprang with lightning-like quickness at him and buried their daggers