![]() With the help of a few friendly natives and three American ships anchored in a nearby harbor, Captain Endicott managed to regain control of his ship before he pirates could run her aground. Except for a small cargo of pepper, the marauders managed to strip the Friendship of everything that was not bolted to her decks. The total cache amounted to 12,000 dollars, 12 chests of opium, all the ship’s papers, spare sails, rigging, cabin furniture, chronometers, nautical instruments books, charts, and wearing apparel. After killing the first officer and two seamen, and seriously wounding others, the Malays proceeded to remove everything of value aboard the ship. Within minutes, the Friendship vas overrun with natives who quickly gained control over the remaining crew. Endicott, and several members of his crew went ashore to buy pepper, a Malayan boat seized the opportunity to pirate the ship. In February, 1831, an American merchant ship, the Friendship of Salem, anchored off the northwest coast of Sumatra, was attacked and plundered. ![]() The adze, itself relatively unimportant archaeologically, led us to a tale of piracy and murder in the little-known port town of Quallah Battoo, Sumatra. Penceau, president of the American Philosophical Society, with a small adze that he had collected in the Society Islands during a three years voyage to the Pacific. That these objects were once part of dynamic, living societies-collected by living men -is often forgotten. Sterile and lifeless, artifacts lie in neatly arranged rows or hopelessly jumbled piles collecting the dust of time. Museum Object Number: 87-43-130 Sir Mortimer Wheeler’s dictum, “Dead archaeology is the driest dust that blows” is too often realized in ethnological specimens relegated to “storage” in large museums. The original description, found in the records of the American Philosophical Society, is as follows: “Hatchet from the Society Islands, not in use at present-they were formerly used for all purposes, such as cutting trees, building their houses, etc., the twine is made of filling part of the Cocoanut, and is very strong-Some of these Hatchets are very large.” It eventually found its way to the University Museum’s Pacific collection during the early 1930’s. The adze was first deposited with the American Philosophical Society in 1834, and transferred to the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia in 1871. ![]()
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