“We watched him from the deck, and he and two men advanced up the beach towards the very chief himself, who came down to meet him.
“The captain’s idea was, I have no doubt, to seize the chief and bring him off.
“In another instant we saw one of the men running, and a party with clubs and spears, who had remained hidden behind some rocks, rushing towards the captain. Before he could escape, his brains were dashed out, and his companion was struck to the ground. The other man reached the boat with a spear in his back, and was hauled in just before the savages got up to him. The boat shoved off and pulled away towards us, a shower of spears following her. Another man was hit, for we saw an oar dropped. The remaining three pulled away for their lives. We, meantime, loosed the sails and got under way; and time it was to do so, for we saw a number of canoes, which had been concealed behind rocks along the shore, darting out towards us. As soon as the boat was alongside, we hauled up the men, one of whom was pretty near dead by that time, cut the cable, let the boat go adrift—we had no time to hoist her up—sheeted home the sails, and stood away from the shore.
“We had a narrow escape of it, for though we kept firing at the advancing canoes, they were almost up to us; and it’s my belief the savages would have got on board in spite of all we could have done to resist them, for they seemed resolved to have their revenge. As it was, another man was hit, and our deck was covered with spears and darts.
“We at last got clear of the land, and the mate, who took command, said he would shape a direct course for Sydney, and have nothing more to do with trading. We soon, however, began to suspect that he was but a poor navigator, and Bill said he was sure of it.
“Three or four days afterwards a gale sprung up from the westward. We lost our topmasts, and were driven before it for a week or more.
“Whether or not the mate was a bad navigator, we had no means of proving, for one night he was washed overboard. Bill, who was the only scholar among us, looked at the log; that had not been written up, nor had our course on the chart been pricked off; so there we were, driving before a heavy gale, and not knowing what island might be in our course to bring us up. The brig also had sprung a leak, and we had to turn-to at the pumps. Our provisions and water were running short. We were in a bad case. Even had we sighted an island, we should have been afraid to go ashore, for we had played so many tricks at different places, that, after what had happened, we thought that we might be treated in the same way as the captain had been.
“The gale at length came to an end. Still we had to keep the pumps going. Our last biscuit was eaten; we had not a drop of water in the casks. Bill, who had been studying the chart, told us that if we would keep up our spirits he hoped in another day or two to make an island to the southward, where we had not before touched. That night, however, there came on a dead calm.
“When the sun rose the next morning the sea was like glass, with not a sign of a breeze.
“When men are starving they will eat anything. We began to stew down our shoes and every bit of leather we could find about the ship. The lockers were searched for biscuit crumbs, or lumps of grease, or anything eatable, till nothing which could keep body and soul together remained.