dreaded Paou lay him by the board, without help or hope, the Mandarin
killed himself. An immense number of his men perished in the sea, and
twenty-five vessels were lost. After his defeat, it was resolved by the
Chinese Government to cut off all their supplies of food, and starve
them out. All vessels that were in port were ordered to remain there,
and those at sea, or on the coast ordered to return with all speed. But
the pirates, full of confidence, now resolved to attack the harbors
themselves, and to ascend the rivers, which are navigable for many miles
up the country, and rob the villages. The consternation was great when
the Chinese saw them venturing above the government forts.

The pirates separated: Mistress Ching plundering in one place, Paou in
another, and O-po-tae in another, &c.

It was at this time that Mr. Glasspoole had the ill fortune to fall into
their power. This gentlemen, then an officer in the East India Company's
ship the Marquis of Ely, which was anchored under an island about twelve
miles from Macao, was ordered to proceed to the latter place with a
boat to procure a pilot. He left the ship in one of the cutters, with
seven British seamen well armed, on the 17th September, 1809. He reached
Macao in safety, and having done his business there and procured a
pilot, returned towards the ship the following day. But, unfortunately,
the ship had weighed anchor and was under sail, and in consequence of
squally weather, accompanied with thick fogs, the boat could not reach
her, and Mr. Glasspoole and his men and the pilot were left at sea, in
an open boat. "Our situation," says that gentleman, "was truly
distressing--night closing fast, with a threatening appearance, blowing
fresh, with a hard rain and a heavy sea; our boat very leaky, without a
compass, anchor, or provisions, and drifting fast on a lee-shore,
surrounded with dangerous rocks, and inhabited by the most barbarous