Page 45 - The Pirate Coast (By Sir Charles Belgrave)

They were certainly fearless and expected only death if they were
captured, ‘utterly remorseless only when vengeance was excited
by defence costing lives’. These, however, were the opinions of
Europeans who were better treated than Indians and Arabs who
were taken by pirates.
One morning in 1797, the Viper, a 10-gun cruiser of the East
India Company, was anchored in Bushirc roads. Her Captain
was on shore, the crew were eating their breakfast on deck, and
the officers were down below. There were scvcraljoasmi dhows
in the harbour, whose captains had asked the Company’s agent to
sell them some powder and shot, and this had been supplied to
them, as it appeared that they had no hostile intention. Suddenly,
two of the dhows opened fire on the Viper and prepared to board
her. Lieutenant Carruthcrs called the crew to their quarters, the
anchor cable was cut, and the ship moved into the open sea,
pursued by four dhows full of armed men. There was a running
fight during which Carruthcrs was shot in the groin: he tied up
the wound, and carried on till he was killed by a shot in the head.
A young midshipman took command, and after a fight in which
there were many casualties, the pirates were driven off. It was
expected that the Company would retaliate after this treacherous
attack, but the incident was ignored by Bombay, and no steps
were taken to punish the pirates.
Finding that they could attack British ships with impunity, the
pirates became more audacious. In 1804, the Company’s cruiser
F/y, carrying dispatches and treasure to Bombay, ran aground near
Kenn Island and sank in shallow water. The officers and men
managed to get to Bushirc, where they chartered a dhow to take
them to Bombay. On their way to Bombay, they were captured
by Joasmi pirates and taken to Ras al Khaima, and there exhibited
to the people as curiosities. Buckingham says: ‘the Joasmi ladies
were so minute in their enquiries, that they were not satisfied
without determining in what respect an uncircumciscd infidel
differed from a True Believer’. After some time, as no ransom
was forthcoming, the pirates determined to kill their prisoners,
but the Englishmen bought their lives by offering to show the
pirates where the ship with the treasure had sunk.
The pirates took their prisoners to the shoal where the ship lay.
As soon as they arrived, many of the pirates dived into the sea to
find the treasure, leaving a few guards with the prisoners who
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