Four men were sent ashore in the boat, and one of the petty officers took his place in the stern, with a hasty note which the first lieutenant had written in pencil stating that the loss had been very heavy, that the work of rooting out the pirates had not yet been completed, and that he should be glad of some more men to occupy the village while he searched the woods. The boat started at once, and twenty minutes later the captain's gig shot into the cove. As soon as the report of the first gun was heard on board the frigate, and there was no longer any motive for remaining at a distance, her head had been turned to the island, and the boat had met her but half a mile away from the entrance.
After reading the note, Captain Crosbie sent one of the gigs to order the boats round to the inlet, and proceeded in his own boat to investigate the state of affairs, ordering the Cerf's boat to row ahead of the frigate, which was to work in under very reduced sail, sounding as she went, and was, if the water was deep enough, to anchor off the mouth of the cove.
"Then you found all the pirates here, Mr. Hill?" the captain said as he landed.
"Yes, sir, but they blew up one of their craft when they left her."
"Yes, of course we heard the report; it shook the frigate as if she had struck on a rock. It must have been tremendous here."
"Yes, sir, she must have had an immense deal of powder in her magazine; the shock was something terrible. Although we were over there in that battery, every one of us was thrown to the ground and several were killed. Two of the guns were dismounted."
"It was a veritable battle for a time, Mr. Hill. It sounded like a naval engagement on a large scale."
"Yes, we had twenty-four guns in the batteries all at work, and the guns of the Cerf, while the three pirates had the same number in their broadsides, besides two heavy swivel-guns."
"You say the loss is heavy. What does it amount to?"
"I cannot tell you exactly, sir. There were twenty-five killed on board the Cerf, in addition to Mr. Playford and Mr. Curtis. The two officers and about half the men were, Mr. Glover reported, killed by the explosion, which, as you see, dismasted her."