Page 287 - INDIANNAVYV1

HISTORY OF THE INDIAN NAVY. 255 '
six gunboats, with two armed junks, the total force of guns
being fifty-eight. Having made his dispositions, Lieutenant
Deane, without any hesitation, attacked the ' Calcutta,' and,
after a smart action of forty minutes' duration, succeeded in
capturing her, the junks and two gunboats, and sinking two
others, while among the killed was the pirate chief, who had
commanded in person. In consequence of this success, the
trade to Malacca and Prince of Wales' island, which had for a
long time been stopped, was again opened. The Lieutenant-
Governor, in his despatch to the Governor-General, dated 12th
of June, enclosing a copy of Lieutenant Deane's despatch, speaks
of this gallant officer and his spirited conduct on this occasion,
:—
in the following terms " I have already had the honour of
detailing to his Excellency the mode in which the • Calcutta
was manned and armed, and the great injury that the Eastern
trade had sustained from the piratical freeboter who com-
manded her. I happy to inform you that this man, the brother
of the Rajah of Sambas, was killed in the action. The difficul-
ties of access to the ' Calcutta,' stationed in a strong position,
and supported by two large China junks several miles up the river
Sambas, contribute greatly to the honour of this achievement, and
reflect great credit on Lieutenant Deane's abilities, valour, and
perseverance. Lieutenant Deane has served under my orders
for nearly five years, during which period of time I have in-
variably experienced in him every qualification of a valuable
officer, and a series of conduct that has uniformly entitled him
to my highest approbation. 1 therefore take the liberty of re-
commending Lieutenant Deane to the most favourable notice of
his Excellency in Council." Captain Money, the Superintendent
of the Bombay Marine, in thanking Lieutenant Deane, under
date 1st of September, took the opportunity of expressing his
approval of the gallantry of his three officers. Lieutenants
Wheatel and J. Philips, and Mr. Midshipman Lord.
The lesson these pirates had received from Lieutenant Deane
was soon forgotten, and, in 180G, we find that the pirates of
Borneo Proper murdered the entire crew of the merchantman
' Commerce,' and shared the plunder with the Sambas people.
Further outrages were committed in the succeeding years, and,
in 1812,Pangeran Annam, of Sambas, captured the Portuguese
ship ' Coromandel,' from Calcutta, and also nine seamen of
H.M.S. ' Hecate,' who were all either brutally murdered, or
retained as slaves after being hamstrung or otherwise maimed.
In these depredations the Sambas Rajah was much assisted by
the Tampasuk pirates, under the Rajah of Borneo Proper, who
could command ten large well-equipped war proas. The naval
force that Pangeran Annam could muster in tlic event of hos-
tilities, consisted, at this time, says Captain ]\lacdonald, " of
from ten to twelve proas, carrying from seventy to eighty men