Our carronade was quickly loaded again, but happily further destruction of human life was unnecessary. The savages, who seemed to have depended implicitly upon the power of their detached squadron to stop us, became demoralised when they saw the cutter dash irresistibly through the opposing line, and receiving at the same time very severe treatment at the hands of the rescuing party, they broke up suddenly and beat a precipitate retreat, each canoe seemingly striving to outdo the rest in the speed of its flight. And thus ended victoriously for us the fight which we had been for over forty hours maintaining against such apparently overwhelming odds.
We soon found ourselves alongside the launch; and hearty were the congratulations and eager the questions which were showered upon us by her crew, quickly repeated by those of the other two boats, which joined in almost immediately afterwards.
“You seem to have been in rather a bad fix,” exclaimed Armitage, who was in command of the boats, as he shook me heartily by the hand. “Tell us all about it.”
I detailed as succinctly as possible all that had transpired since our departure from the ship, and wound up by a suggestion that if they had any spare rations they would be most acceptable.
“Rations!” exclaimed Armitage; “to be sure we have, my boy; but let us adjourn to this island of yours, where we can get them properly cooked. I feel curious to see the spot which you held so pluckily for so long a time. But, by the by, where is the French boat all this time?”
“The French boat? Has she not turned up at the creek?” I exclaimed in surprise. “We felt certain of her escape, and indeed depended upon the information she would convey of our predicament for the despatch of assistance.”
“She had not put in an appearance up to the time of our starting at noon yesterday, nor have we seen any sign of her during our passage up the stream,” was the reply. “You were due to return, you know, the evening before last, and when yesterday morning came, without your appearance, Captain Vernon became uneasy. He allowed you until noon, however; but when noon passed, leaving you still non est, he came to the conclusion that something was amiss, and despatched us in quest of you at once. So this is the scene of the struggle, eh?” as the boats grounded on the beach of the island. “A pretty scene of ruin it is.”
And so it was. The battery had been completely obliterated by the explosion, nothing remaining to mark its site but the scattered fragments of the sod walls and the dismounted guns; the charred remains of the barrack, a short distance away, aiding to complete the picture of destruction. An immense number of native spears were lying scattered about all over the ground, and these were promptly collected by the seamen as souvenirs of the struggle.