NEST OF PIRATES.

North Otago Times, Volume CVII, Issue 17168, 26 March 1927, Page 5

NEST OF PIRATES.

— Pr Atfsiaoiniion—

(AcstrAlJan cnd W.3. Prass Associntiti..^

VISITED BY FLEET. A PUNII^IVE EXPEDFHON.

( Oablo-

-Oopyri^h t.'y

HONGKONG, Manch 25. The Britlsh naval expedition against the notrious Chinese pirates' lair at Bias Bay tells a inril- ; ling story of adventure. The expedition, commanded by Reai-Admiral Boyle, comprised the cruisers Frobisher, Delhi, the minesweeper, Marazion, the sloop Foxglove and the aircraft carrier Hermes, left Iiongkong on Tuesday evening. It arrived off Bias Bay early on the following morning. Three hundred men of the naval force and police embarked in boats which the Marazion towed ten miles to the head of an inlet where the men waded ashore waist high through muddy water. They found two villages, pirate haunts, deserted. The inhabitants hiding in trees and villages were collected and given time in which to collect their helongings, after which the houses, sheds, junks and sampans were destroyed. Meanwhiie an aeroplane from the Heivnes flew over the scene, Neighbouring hillocks were crowded with Chinese watching the operations. The smoke of the burning mat sheds was visible for miles around constituting a salutary lesson to the whole country side. There Were no casualties. Instructions not to injure buildings of a religious character were carefully observed. Copies.of explanatory notices stating the object of the punitive expedition, and warning against rccVirring acts of piracy ' *cre deiivered throughout +he vil- j ges. i (