Delaware and Schuylkill rivers," says Mr. Watson, in his amusing Annals of Philadelphia, "that the pirates of Blackbeard's day had deposited treasure in the earth. The conceit was, that sometimes they killed a prisoner, and interred him with it, to make his ghost keep his vigils there as a guard walking his weary round.' Hence it was not rare to hear of persons having seen a shpook or ghost, or of having dreamed of it a plurality of times; thus creating a sufficient incentive to dig on the spot.

"Dream after dream ensues;

And still they dream that they shall still succeed,
And still are disappointed!"

"Colonel Thomas Forrest, who died in 1828, at the age of 83, had been in his early days a youth of much frolic and fun, always well disposed to give time and application to forward a joke. He found much to amuse himself in the credulity of some of the German families. I have heard him relate some of his anecdotes of the prestigeous kind with much humor. When he was about twenty-one years of age, a tailor who was measuring him for a suit of clothes happened to say, "Now Thomas, if you and I could only find some of the money of the sea-robbers (the pirates,) we might drive our coach for life." The sincerity and simplicity with which he uttered this, caught the attention of young Forrest, and when he went home he began to devise some scheme to be amused with his credulity and superstition. There was a prevailing belief that the pi rates had hidden many sums of money and much treasure about the banks of the Delaware. Forrest got an old parchment, on which he wrote the dying testimony of one John Hendricks, executed at Tyburn for piracy, in which he stated he had deposited a chest and a pot of money at Cooper's Point, in the Jerseys. This parchment he smoked, and gave to it the appearance of antiquity; calling on his German tailor, told him he had found it among his father's papers, who got it in England from the prisoner whom he visited in prison. This he showed to the tailor as a precious paper, which he could by no means lend out of his hands. This operated the desired effect.

"Soon after the tailor called on Forrest with one Ambruster, a printer, whom he introduced as capable of printing any spirit out of hell' by his knowledge of the black art. He asked to show him the parchment; he was delighted with it, and confidently said he could conjure Hendricks to give up the money.

A time was appointed to meet in an upper room of a public house in Philadelphia, by night, and the innkeeper was let into the secret by Forrest. By the night appointed, they had prepared by a closet a communication with a room above their sitting room, so as to lower down by a pully the invoked ghost, who was represented by a young man entirely sewed up in a close white dress, on which were painted black-eyed sockets, mouth, and bare ribs with dashes of black between them, the outside and inside of the legs and thighs blacked, so as to make white bones conspicuous there. About twelve persons met in all, seated around a table. Ambruster shuffled and read out cards, on which were inscribed the names of the New Tes tament saints, telling them he should bring Hendricks to er.compass the table, visible or invisible he could not tell. At the words, John Hendricks 'du verfluchter cum heraus,* the pulley was heard to reel, the closet door to fly open, and John Hendricks, with ghastly appearance, to stand forth. The whole were dismayed and fled, save Forrest the brave. After this, Ambruster, on whom they all depended, declared that he had by spell got permission to take up the money. A day was therefore appointed to visit the Jersey shore, and to dig there by night. The parchment said it lay between two great stones. Forrest. therefore, prepared two black men, to be entirely naked, except white petticoat-breeches; and these were to jump each on the stone whenever they came to the pot, which had been previously put there. These frightened off the company for a little. When they next essayed, they were assailed by cats tied two and two, to whose tails were spiral papers of gunpowder, which illuminated and whizzed, while the cats whawled. The pot was at length got up, and brought in great triumph to Philadelphia wharf: but oh, sad disaster! while helping it out of the boat, Forrest, who managed it, and was handing it up to the tailor, trod upon the gunnel and filled the boat, and, holding on to the pot, dragged the tailor into the river-it was lost! For years afterwards, they reproached Forrest for that loss, and declared he had got the chest by himself, and was enriched thereby. He favored the conceit, until at last they actually sued him on a writ of treasure trove; but their lawyer was persuaded to give it up as idle. Some years afterwards, Mr. Forrest wrote a very humorous play, which contained many incidents of this kind of superstition. It gave such offence to the parties represented, that it could not be exhibited on the stage. I remember some lines * Come out thcu açcursed.

in it, for it had much of broken English and German-English verses, to wit:

"My dearest wife, in all my life,

Ich neber was so frighten'd,
De spirit come and I did run

'Twas juste like tunder mit lightening."

As late as the year 1792, the ship-carpenters formed a party to dig for pirates' money on the Cohocksinc creek, northwest of the causeway, under a large tree. They got frightened off. And it came out afterwards, that a waggish neighbor had enacted diabolus to their discomfiture."

OUTRAGE OF THE MALAYS.

THE ship Friendship, Captain Endicott, of Salem, was attacked and captured by the Malays, on the 7th of February, 1831, while lying at Quala Batoo, in the island of Sumatra. The particulars, as taken from the ship's log-book after the accident, are as follows.

66

Monday, February 7th, 1831. At eight A. M. the captain, second officer, and four men, went on shore to weigh pepper at half past three P. M. succeeded in procuring one boat load; saw her leave the bank of the river opposite the scale house, with the usual complement of men in her, that is to say, one steersman, and six oarsmen; the natives still bringing pepper to the scales, with the promise of giving us another boat load to-day. The first boat was observed to make considerable delay in getting out of the river, and we supposed her crew might be stealing pepper from her and secreting it among some neighboring high grass,-two of the ship's men were accordingly sent down to watch them, and upon their approaching the boat, five or six Malays were seen to jump up from the grass and hurry on board her-the ship's people supposed them to be the boat's crew, as they had seen about the same number quit her, previous to their being observed by the Malays. At this time there was a brig standing into Soosoo. While waiting for the natives to complete our other boat load of pepper, Captain Endicott went to the beach to ascertain if the brig approaching had hoisted any colors.

"He then saw that the pepper boat, which was at this time

a few yards off the ship, had at least double the number of men in her, that she had when she left the scales-he immediately returned and inquired into this circumstance—the men who were sent down to watch the boat in the river, then informed, that they had seen her take in several men out of a ferry boat at the mouth of the river, but as they all appeared to be "youngsters," they did not think the circumstance of suffi cient importance to report it. Our suspicions were immediately excited that all was not right; yet trusting they would not be permitted to go on board, it being contrary to the esta blished regulations of the ship, in the absence of the captain, to admit more than two Malays on board her at a time, and deeming it too late to render any assistance if they were, the second officer and two men were sent to the beach to observe the movements on board, who almost instantly returned with the information that there was trouble on board, and that men were seen jumping overboard from her.

"Convinced from this circumstance, that we on shore had no time to lose, we immediately sprang into the ship's boat, and pushed off. Almost instantaneously crowds of Malays began to assemble on the points of the river, which are about sixty yards asunder, brandishing their weapons, and in other ways menacing us at the same moment a ferry-boat with eight or ten men in her, armed with spears and krisses, pushed off to intercept our passage out of the river, but by pulling directly for her and presenting a Malay sword, our only wea pon, we succeeded in keeping them off. When we had cleared the river and come in full sight of the ship, we found the Malays had full possession of her, some of them walking about the decks, while others were making signals of success to the people on shore; none of the ship's crew, except one man aloft, was to be seen. At this moment, three Malay boats with forty or fifty men each, came out of the river, and pulled toward the ship and us; we then concluded, our only chance to recover the ship was by obtaining assistance from some other vessels, and for this purpose we made the best of our way to Muckie, where we knew two or three American vessels were lying. At one A. M. we reached Muckie, which lies twenty-five miles distant from Qualah Batoo, and found there ship James Monroe, Porter, of New York, brigs GovEndicott, N. H. Jenks, of Salem, and Palmer, Powers, of Boston, who determined, on hearing of our misfortunes, to proceed to Qualah Batoo, and endeavor to recover the ship.

"They accordingly got under weigh, but owing to the light.

ness of the wind, did not reach Qualah Batoo in season to effect any thing that day, but on the morning of the 9th, a Malay was sent on shore to demand the ship of the Rajah, accompanied with the threat, that if the Malays did not immediately desert her, we should fire upon them and the town. The Rajah, however, positively refused to give her up, and sent word we might take her if we could. The three vessels then commenced firing upon the ship and the boats which were passing with plunder, and were answered by the forts on shore, and the Malays also firing the ship's guns at us. In their attempts to get her on shore, she had become entangled among a large cluster of shoals, which rendered it extremely dangerous for either of the vessels to attempt to lay her along side. The Malays, however, after blowing themselves up with an open keg of powder, out of which they were loading the guns, soon ceased firing on board the ship-when a boat from each vessel was despatched to board her under cover of the guns from the vessels, and which we did without opposition, the Malays deserting her on the approach of the boats.

"We subsequently learnt, that the pepper boat exchanged her crew of fishermen at the river's mouth for a set of opium smokers, rendered desperate by their habits, and to these were added also men of the same class taken from the ferry boat; that when she came along side not one of them was recognized by the ship's company as having been off to her before; they were all, however, indiscriminately permitted to go on board; and the attack was commenced simultaneously at dif ferent parts of the ship, by some concerted signal; and three or four men, with the first officer, were instantly krissed, and the crew being taken by surprise and unprepared, the ship fe.l an easy prey to them.'

Immediately on learning this outrage, Government despatched the frigate Potomac, Captain Downes, to obtain full redress for the attack on the Friendship. The frigate arrived on the coast of Sumatra, in February 1832, and anchored off Qualah Batoo on the 5th of that month. Ineffectual attempts were made on that day to open an intercourse with the natives. Preparations were accordingly made for an attack, which took place at early dawn on the 6th. The forts of the enemy were soon carried, and their force dispersed. After having thus inflicted on them such vengeance as their piracy deserved, the frigate took its leave. This punishment has doubtless impressed them with a salutary respect for American power and decision.