Hand to Hand Fight With a Slaver.

Te Aroha News, Volume V, Issue 236, 7 January 1888, Page 2

Hand to Hand Fight With a Slaver.

The Lords of the Admiralty have pro moted Lieutenant Fred. F. Fegen, R.N., to be commander, to mark their recognition of his gallant conduct in as brilliant and thorough a real sea dog exploit as ever appeared in British naval annals. Last May Lieutenant Fegcn, who was on board her Majesty's ship Turquoise, then stationed at Zanzibar, Set out on board an oidinary pinnace with seven men to patrol that part of the East Africa coast and watch for Arab slavers. On the morning of the 30th May the pinnace was lying snugly anchored within Fungal Gap, Pemba, an island to the north of Zanzibar. The crew of the pinnace compiised live blue-jackets, one marine, one interpreter, and Fegen. At daylight the look - out i-eported that a dhow was entering the gap. As far as could be ascertained she seemed a peaceable tiader, making for port under crowded sail. Only a man or two could be seen on deck, and there was nothing to indicate the craft wa3 full of slaves and armed men. The lieutenant had a little dingy with him, and in this, as a matter of duty and precaution, he sent his coxswain, the marine and interpreter, to hail the stranger and see that she was all right. Stoutly the little dingy was rowed towards the dhow to intercept her as she ran along. When within 100 yards uf the Arab the interpreter hailed them, bufc received no answer, nor could he see anybody on board, for the huge sail screened her crew. Plying their oars with more vigour, they made to board the strange craft, when instantly a scoreof swarthy faces rose aboutthegunwale, and a volley from Snider rifles was poured into the dingy. Fegen shouted orders to his men to turn the 9-lb. gun with which the pinnace was armed to bear on the dhow whilst at the same moment one of his men opened fire on them with his Martini-Henry. The marine, from the dingy, had already got to work with his weapon, and was evidently doing execution. The slaver, holding the dingy as too insignificant, changed her course and bore down full upon the pinnace, clearly intending to run aboard her. Fegen and his four men had their anchor tripped in a trice, made sail, but there was no time to get under weigh, when down upon them came the dhow. The lieutenant called " Prepare to resist board ers," " Stand to them, my lads," and setting that example which in warfare, at any rate, is before all precept, jumped forward to repel the attack as the two vessels bumped together. With characteristic ferocity the slavers — some 13 Arabs, and seven bloodthirsty halfbreed cut-throats— endeavoured to spring aboard the pinnace. Fegen'shot two down with' his revolver, and ran a third through the body, when he in turn would have fallen under a fierce blow from an Arab's blade had not Peaison, an A.8., run the man through with his cutlass. As it was, Fegen received a severe wound on the right arm, but still the fight went on, for he could use his pistol with his left. Thtee of his men were cut down and were by this time lying wounded in the bottom of the pinnace, while nine Arabs had already been slain by our sturdy tars. Still Fegen battled on, shooting, and shoving with the help of his crew of now only one man, both of them receiving- fresh' stabs- and wounds. J. Guys and Fred Russell, leading seamen, had stood by him like steel, 'fighting with the courage 1 and determination of those heroes wjio .have immortalised our navy. Kusseir fought on „ heedless of his many wounds until ho' 1 , sank from sheer loss, of, 'bipod. At ; length'"' the dhow, slipped past and sheered off, not to' escape,' however, "for ''wounded, as all on the pinnace; wdfre/'i.) l ey : fo'ukht r and,' ! heid Ibn1 bn .with the,] tenacity '6f .,bulldbgs. j 'With 1 those, sftlljn' the' f din^ytheyi £ Tnain,tained a fire on th'&; dHpw, and' 1 ftllpwed -hear' up. The slaver j reptfed''with' v <jfi% ? Sniders, -arid Fegen,'! aeiinfKis'nWinY tWftingylexpoi?edr MC the piito W;tl^ f^ind'/to .obtain 1 M

The protracted |gEt<attracte^tf f n^mb<p of Arabs to the shcmyjjand tpe^in turn began]; firing at the UvofW theVTSaM'^itisli craft. A lucky shot from one of the Martinis killed the slaver's helmsman, and the dhow broached to in shallow water and cap- ' sized. The remainder of the rascally crew I plunged into the sea, which was about two lathoms dcop at the spot, and ewam for the shore, four or five only succeeding in reaching the land alive. Most of the penned vsJaves managed to scramble out and haibg on to the dhow, their headsalone vjsiblo out oi the "vv'atoiy Ee£<Sifgs6 his' men fnoin the dingy onbo^nl ihe pinnaoei and with a few shells fiibm s thej nine-pounder drove away the belligerent Aijafis oh shore. This done, * he sent Wie dingy to the rescue of fche.slaves ' and succeeded in saving the lives of 53 unfortunate negroes. Unfortunately, 12 had been drowned by the capsizing of the dhow, i the number of slaves on board having been I 65. A snilor named Benjamin Stone, an A.8., was the only ono killed outright on our side during the plucky Hctlo sea fight. So far, as known, up, to the present the wounded blue jrc'sets were all doing well. — " Public Opinion.''