After a few moments of silence he asked:—
"Do you know what your captain counts on doing with me?"
"He isn't in the custom of telling the crew what he proposes to do," Phil said curtly; "but this you can set down for a fact, that if he turns you loose around the bay, you'd better be mighty careful, for there are those among the men who wouldn't count it a crime to kill you as they would a mad dog."
By this time a boat had come ashore from the Essex; Benson and the Typees who had brought him in were taken on board, and we did not get a glimpse of the Britisher until many days afterward. The natives, however, came ashore half an hour later and were conducted by our men a short distance up the mountain, lest the Happars, disregarding the flag of truce, should set upon them.
Three days later Captain Porter took possession of the fort and island in a formal manner. He and his officers went into the fortification where the flag, which had been lowered a few moments previous, was hoisted while the ships saluted it in fine style, and then it was announced that the island had become a portion of the United States. From that hour, so the captain declared, Nukuheva should be known as Madison Island, in honor of the President, and the fort was given the same name. The bay had already been christened Massachusetts, and at the time it seemed to me that my country had come into possession of a valuable territory; but those at home thought differently, for in after years no effort was made to hold what the gallant old Essex had fairly won.
The remainder of this day when we took possession was spent in sport, all hands having full liberty until one hour before sunset; and a grand jollification we had, visiting the most respectable Happar families.
Next morning twenty-one men were told off as the force to man the fort, and command of the same was bestowed upon Lieutenant Gamble of the Marines. The duty of this little party was to guard the remainder of the company while at work on the fleet, and otherwise keep peace between the Happars and the Typees. Then the task of putting the ships into sailing trim was continued, and Phil and I sincerely regretted having been assigned to the cook's department, otherwise we might have been numbered among the defenders of the fort,—a position which would have pleased me mightily, for it seemed certain that the Typees were more than willing to let us severely alone.
As I stop writing at this point for an instant, I come to realize that my yarn is being spun out too long. It would please me greatly to be able to set down here all we did while on Madison Island, for we spent many a happy hour there, despite the hard work; but by so doing I might never come to an end of that which I hope will pass for what landsmen call a "story," although every word is no more than the truth, as all our ship's company can testify.
In order, therefore, that nothing of importance concerning the cruise of the Essex may be omitted through lack of time and space, I will copy here what was afterward written by a great historian[2] concerning what cost us three days of fighting, and to relate which in detail would force me to write over many pages.
"After their first fears had been allayed, or they came to understand how small was our force, the powerful Typees remained hostile, and became more and more defiant, to the great discomfort of the Happars and the annoyance of the Americans. At length Porter resolved to make war upon them.