Sumatran Pirates and the Friendship (1831)

In 1831, the Sumatran pepper trade was both lucrative and dangerous. On a routine trip, the Salem merchant vessel the Friendship, under the command of Captain Charles Endicott, was taken by pirates. Endicott and the escaping crew, made their way to a nearby port, where they met up with other trading vessels, to return and retake the Friendship and rescue the captives. This is Capt. Endicott’s first hand account of the incident written in 1856 for the Essex Institute.  The following year, in retaliation for the Friendship incident, President Andrew Jackson sent the US Frigate Potomac to Sumatra to exact retribution on the pirates and their local leaders. Also included in this volume are both the American Government’s reports of the event, and the report of Irvine Shurbick, Lieutenant commanding the Expedition.