Page 166 - The Pirate Coast (By Sir Charles Belgrave)

according to Loch, numbered some seven or eight thousand men,
women and children. Their only object was to get away from
the enemy, whom they believed to be as savage and merciless as
themselves. Old men, women and children went first, crowding
into the water, pushing and fighting to escape, the weaker fugi­
tives falling into the deep holes, and pulling down those who tried
to save them. Behind this helpless rabble came the fighting men,
‘these murderous wretches now reduced to so many miserable
creatures contending with the sea’. They struggled to get across
before the turn of the tide, which would sweep them off their feet,
expecting any moment to be attacked by the ships’ boats. From
the town rose a great column of smoke and flames for, before they
left, the pirates had set fire to the barastis, whose matting and palm
branches burned fiercely. During this ‘heartrending scene’ the
troops stood quietly watching, and not a shot was fired, owing to
the orders which had been given by the General. ‘Thus did they
proceed to the opposite shore, the aged and infirm supported by
their relations, and the children clinging to their mothers.’ From
the shore, they struggled on towards the mountains, where they
knew that they would be safe from attack. The scene which
Loch witnessed was the finale of Ras al Khaima as the centre of
the pirates of the Gulf.
For some time the troops could not enter the town, owing to
the danger that their ammunition might be ignited by the burning
barastis. When finally they got inside they found that two-thirds
of the buildings had been destroyed, and only a few of the large
stone houses were untouched. By ten o’clock on the 9th, all
was quiet, and the fires had burnt themselves out. Loch took a
walk round the town. All that was to be seen of the defenders
were a few bodies among the smouldering ruins, of people who
had either been shot or were unable to escape. The only live
creatures were one old woman and three cats.
On the 10th, Major Colebrook and Major Stcnhousc were sent
by the General to parley with the pirates. They went, alone and
unarmed, to the gardens and the foothills where the people from
the town had retreated, explaining to them the reasons for the
destruction of Ras al Khaima, and telling them that the British
wished to discuss what was to be done in the future, y Loch says
that this had ‘a remarkable effect’. Meanwhile the engineers pre­
pared to demolish the citadel, and some of the other fortified
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