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Originally Posted by not2sharp
The Master and Commander series contains one book in which Jack and crew fend off attacks from kris waving pirates. It is closely based on a true event which staretd with a British shipwreck in ~1813. In the true life story the Captain manages to fend survive the accidental grounding on an unchartered reef, rescue his crew, deliver a VIP Envoy, organize an economy, and fend off heavy pirate attacks; not only do they survive but they do so without losing a single crew member - and on the way home the Captain even gets to meet with Napolian on Elba. The novel is greatly toned down; nobody would believe the real story even if it was true.
Perhaps the powers that be will pursuade Russel Crow to take a shot at a sequel to Master and Commander.
n2s
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I read a cool passage in a biography of an ancestor of mine, Nathaniel Bowditch (mathematician, navigator, and a Salem ship captain in the spice trade in the late 18th C), about his first visit to Java. I should look up the port, etc., but he noticed that every one of the workers who came out in little boats to load pepper onto his ship had a keris stuck in the back of his waistband. This caused him some concern, so he insisted that only one boat be allowed to unload onto his ship at a time, and no more than three Malay be allowed on board at one time. Such was the reputation of Malay pirates at the time. The port folks were severely aggrevated, but he kept firm (basically said "there is pepper at the next port, so do it my way or get out of my way") and everything went smoothly. He was hardly a Russel Crowe swashbuckler -- quite a little egg-head, actually -- which makes the story all the more amusing.