ABSTRACT
Throughout the centuries the petty fishermen frequenting these waters had been alternately traders and pirates in accordance with the extent of their catch. Great pirate fleets had been organized from time to time which ravaged the seaboard, devastated trade, and brought the Imperial Government to their terms. An exceptionally exasperating group of pirates in the sixteenth century are alleged to have brought about the first Portuguese settlement at Macao. Not until the death of the last member of the Ming family did he renounce his hope of being ruler of China. Pirates again defied all governmental restraint at the beginning of the nineteenth century. Since 1804 the Portuguese had attempted the defence of their port with two rather inadequate ships, one an English grab ship which they had bought and armed for that purpose. Throughout the winter and spring of 1810 the pirates continued and extended their depredations irrespective of the organized opposition of the Sino-Portuguese fleet.
