A  few  Remarks  on  the  Origin,  Progress,  Manners,
and  Customs  of  the  Ladrones

The  Ladrones  are  a  disaffected  race  of  Chinese,
that  revolted  against  the  oppressions  of  the  manda-
rins. They  first  commenced  their  depredations  on
the  Western  coast  (Cochin-China),  by  attacking
small  trading  vessels  in  rowboats,  carrying  from
thirty  to  forty  men  each.  They  continued  this  sys-
tem of  piracy  several  years;  at  length  their  suc-
cesses, and  the  oppressive  state  of  the  Chinese,  had
the  effect  of  rapidly  increasing  their  numbers.  Hun-
dreds of  fishermen  and  others  flocked  to  their  stand-
ard;  and   as    their   number   increased   they   conse-


274  GRI-Ar  IMRATK  STORIES

qucntly  became  more  desperate.  They  blockaded
all  the  principal  rivers,  and  captured  several  large
junks,  mountinj^  from  ten  to  fifteen  guns  each.
With  these  junks  they  formed  a  very  formidable
fleet,  and  no  small  vessels  could  trade  on  the  coast
with  safety.  Ihey  plundered  several  small  villages,
and  exercised  such  wanton  barbarity  as  struck  horror
into  the  breasts  of  the  Chinese.  To  check  these
enormities  the  government  equipped  a  fleet  of  forty
imperial  war-junks,  mounting  from  eighteen  to
twenty  guns  each.  On  the  very  first  rencontre,
twenty-eight  of  the  imperial  junks  struck  to  the  pi-
rates; the  rest  saved  themselves  by  a  precipitate  re-
treat.
