Mutiny on their part was not, however, the only
reason which sometimes led to the sacrifice of a
whole cargo of Asiatics. It was all too often a
case of might makes right, and when some con-
vulsion of the elements rendered it imperative to
lighten a vessel, many a captain easily persuaded
himself that he had no choice but to save his crew
by the sacrifice of his human freight. This was
the cause of the awful catastrophe off the Paracelses
reefs in the China Sea, which have as sinister a
reputation as the Goodwin Sands of the English
coast, or the Bale des Tr^pass^s of that of Brittany.
An unskilful captain had run his vessel on to the
far-famed reefs during the night, and seeing that
it was hopeless to attempt to save the five hundred
coolies he was to have taken to Peru, he called his
crew together and told them to lower all the boats
as quietly as possible. This was done, and the



I02 CHINA AND THE CHINESE

captain saved himself and his sailors, leaving the five
hundred Celestials to their fate. The unfortunate
coolies, roused from their sleep by the bumping of
the vessel against the rocks, uttered piercing screams
for help from the narrow space in which they were
confined, but we need scarcely add that the cautious
captain had most likely had the hatchways securely
nailed down by his carpenter before he left the ship.
