Around a hundred years ago, fearsome pirates were often found sailing in the waters around Singapore. The most famous—and most feared—pirate at this time was Chief Black Buffalo, or Kerbau Hitam. He was dark and ferocious looking, but not as you might be thinking with a wooden leg and an eye patch. Kerbau Hitam wore just a cloth around his middle, with a sharp knife tucked into it, and a bandanna around his head to keep the sweat out of his eyes.

His men were dressed the same way. Their feet were also bare, so they moved stealthily and silently. Kerbau Hitam had fearsome black eyebrows that met in the middle of his forehead, and a permanent scowl. He would slay a dozen men, dust off his hands, and then sit down to breakfast without a thought. His face had such a ferocious look on it that many people fled without a battle. His band of pirates were as fierce and vicious as he.

Now, Kerbau Hitam and his gang were planning a new attack. They had heard a rumour that the Raja of Riau's daughter was planning to get married. A royal wedding meant that plenty of gold and jewels would be around for easy picking. They just had to figure out how to get their hands on the loot—and do it quickly and stealthily.

"We all know that the Raja of Riau will be very wary" said Kerbau Hitam to his men. "He'll suspect everyone and everything. He'll do everything in his power to protect the island against any form of attack, which makes this mission very dangerous, but it'll be fun! If we're not very careful, he'll spot us immediately and set his army onto us."

"I have a plan," he continued. "We will disguise ourselves as traders from Johore, bringing goods for the wedding."

He finished with a harsh laugh:

"The rest... you can guess!"

The men rubbed their hands together with excitement. They continued to discuss how the rest of the plan would work well into the night.

Preparing crates of goods to carry onto the island to show they were traders took some time, but when all the preparations were complete, they set sail for the Riau islands on their heavily disguised pirate junk.

When they arrived, and landed at the shore, the Rajas guards came down to their boat to meet them.

"In the name of the Raja, before you set foot on this land, who are you?" enquired the first guard.

"Traders from Johore, selling fabric and lace," Kerbau Hitam replied confidently. "The Raja is expecting us."

The Raja's daughter, Normah, was at that moment planning her wedding gown with a team of tailors. The whole island knew about this, and that she was waiting for a delivery of fabric from the mainland. The Raja's soldiers thought this must be a batch of fabric arriving for the princess's dress, and they did not suspect a thing.

"Welcome! Bring your goods ashore," said the guard.

Within minutes he wished he had never got up that morning. The pirates grabbed him, tied him up and overpowered the rest of his shore patrol. The pirates then sauntered up to the Raja's palace and calmly walked in the front door.

As soon as they entered the palace, the Raja came out to greet them. Four pirates immediately surrounded him, grabbed him and bound his feet and hands together. The whole job had so far taken no more than ten minutes. Kerbau Hitam stepped forward, his silver knife glinting in his hand, and the famous scowl on his face.

"People of the palace, DON'T make the mistake of trying to help your Raja. The island is now under our control. If any of you try to stop us, we will kill the Raja immediately, in front of your eyes." He turned to his men and said: "Tie up anyone you find. We'll deal with them later."

And so, the helpless Raja was taken prisoner in his own palace, while his daughter still sat innocently planning her wedding in her room, not yet knowing that pirates surrounded her.

Suddenly the door to her room was flung open, and in strode the most terrifying man she had ever seen. Behind him, tightly bound, her father shuffled along, being pushed from behind by another vicious-looking man. Kerbau Hitam took one look at the Princess and decided she would do just fine as a pirate bride.

"I'll marry your daughter if you like, old man," chuckled the pirate.

"Never," declared the Raja, "You'll have to kill me first."

Normah screamed when she heard this, but the pirate only laughed harder. "Lock her up. She'll soon change her tune when she's tired and hungry."

Down by the seaside, Normah's fiancee, Rahim, had returned from a hunting trip just in time to see the pirates arrive. Hidden in some nearby trees, he had watched everything helplessly. Without being seen, he jumped aboard a small boat, and sailed to Singapore to get help. Within a day he landed at Tanjong Rhu and told the fishermen gathered on the shore his terrible tale. They took him immediately to their leader or temenggong

The temenggong was horrified. He had heard that Kerbau Hitam's men were plundering all the islands in the area. He agreed to help stop the pirates, and asked for support from a Chinese headman.

That night the headman called a meeting with twenty of his most trustworthy men, to discuss what they could do. All night they talked and argued and drew maps, and by the time the sun came up the next morning they had hatched a plan.

Before dawn, a fine Chinese junk set sail for Riau. Aboard were the temenggong and Rahim, disguised as Chinese labourers, together with the Chinese headman and his twenty men. When they arrived at the very shore that Rahim had left the previous day, it was teeming with pirates. Rahim rowed alone to shore in a small boat to make contact.

"Good evening, sirs. Can I speak to your Raja?" asked Rahim, approaching the most feisty-looking character he could see.

"I am the Raja here, what is your business?" grunted Kerbau Hitam.

"We're heading for Singapore, but we have a dead man on board our junk who needs burying immediately. If you allow us to stop and bury him, we can offer you a reward."

"A reward eh? And what exactly are you willing to pay?" asked Kerbau Hitam, arms behind his back and puffing out his chest with sudden interest.

"We're carrying a cargo of gold. We're willing to pay you a substantial amount in gold bars if you'll let us land for a short time."

"Agreed," replied Kerbau Hitam, "but you must bring your whole crew with you. My men will guard your boat and your gold."

So Rahim returned to the junk, and rowed back to shore carrying the temenggong, the coffin and only seven men. The rest, of course, were still in hiding on the junk.

They picked up the coffin and began carrying it towards the trees that grew thickly above the tide-level.

"Stop! Wait! Are you armed?"

"Of course not," replied Rahim calmly. "We are only here to bury a dead man. By all means, search us."

The pirates searched them, but of course, found nothing. Not wanting to disturb the dead body, they dared not open the coffin to check it.

Meanwhile, Kerbau Hitam and his men rowed out to the junk. Their plan, as you've probably guessed, was to rob the junk, while the crew on land were burying their dead.

"Seize him," came a bloodcurdling cry, and the thirteen sailors hiding on board leapt out, seized the pirates, bound their feet and hands, and locked them up in the twinkling of an eye.

At the same time, back among the trees, the Chinese sailors opened the coffin and took out the weapons that were hidden inside. Quickly they ran to the Rajas house, captured the other pirates and freed the Raja, Normah and the villagers held there.

Rahim and Normah decided to get married as soon as possible. The Raja thanked everyone, especially the temenggong from Singapore and his men. He invited them all to come back for the wedding feast.

Kerbau Hitam and his pirate gang were hanged for piracy. They were not, however, the last pirates to plague Singapore waters. The seas around the island provided the perfect short-cut for many cargo boats, giving pirates plenty of chances to add to their booty. The small islands off-shore gave them perfect places to lie low.

Some of Singapore's islands may still have pirate treasure buried on them somewhere. Dig deep enough and you may find it.