The warning came just in time. Scarcely had we jumped into the boat and made towards the beach, than up went the vessel, almost overwhelming us with her burning fragments; indeed, it seemed a wonder that we should have escaped, so close were we at the time. Many pieces, indeed, fell on the outside of us—no large portion, happily, striking the boat. Led by Mr Mason, we dashed on shore, and with our four marines, who had fixed bayonets—the rest of us armed with cutlasses—charged the enemy. They ran away—the wisest thing they could do, but we followed, which was not at all a wise thing. The Malays first fled along the beach, we every now and then firing at them; then they turned inland. Still, as long as we kept sight of them, Mr Mason led us on. Rocks and trees were on either side of us. Just as we were leaving the beach, I thought I heard a shout from the boat, in which were the wounded men and a couple of hands left to keep her afloat. Our blood was up, Mr Mason vowing that, though the Malays might run fast, he would overtake them. We had now got a considerable distance from the beach, when our enemies disappeared. They had evidently concealed themselves among the trees and rocks. It was equally evident that we had done a very foolish thing. All we could now do was to retrace our steps; that, however, was not quite so easy a matter. Before we had moved a hundred yards we discovered that we had lost our way. With daylight we might have found it, but in the darkness we could not discover a glimpse of the sea. Just then we caught sight of numerous dark forms appearing above the rocks and among the trees. Slowly they closed in upon us. We were surrounded by our enemies; there was no doubt about that. They were well armed with matchlocks, for we saw the matches fizzing away at their belts, while we had only four muskets and half a dozen pistols. Our cutlasses and the marines’ bayonets would have enabled us, perhaps, to have fought our way out from among our enemies, could we have seen it.
“There is no help for it; I am afraid it is all up with us, lads!” cried Mr Mason, as some fifty armed men pressed closer and closer round us. “We must sell our lives dearly!”
The threatening gestures of the enemy showed us that we must do this, if we could not escape. An open space, however, appeared before us.
“Fire, and then charge?” cried Mr Mason.
The order was obeyed. Several of the Malays fell, and on we dashed. They, in return, however, poured in a shower of bullets upon us, which knocked over two of the marines, and hit another of the seamen.
“On, on, lads! We must regain the beach!” cried Mr Mason; and we fought our way on for another fifty yards.
The Malays had, however, in the meantime reloaded their pieces, and a second deadly discharge was poured in upon us. Our leader fell, as did the two marines and three more of our men. Ned Rawlings, Dicky, and I, indeed, were the only ones of the whole party untouched. Hearing poor Mr Mason groan, Dicky and I stooped down to lift up his head.
“I just now caught sight of the water,” cried Ned Rawlings. “If you will help him up on my back, I’ll carry him off to the boat.” We instantly lifted Mr Mason on Ned’s broad shoulders, and as the Malays did not press on us, there seemed a possibility of success. They, however, seeing only two persons able to fight, now made a rush towards us. We, of course, thought our last moments had come. Resistance was useless. Instead, however, of cutting us down, they seized us by the arms, wrenched our cutlasses out of our hands, and dragged us along as prisoners. They soon caught hold of Ned, who, however, would not let Mr Mason go. He was soon brought up to where we were. Mr Mason could, by this time, scarcely speak.
“Put me down, my good fellow,” he said, “it is useless; I have received my deathblow; I only hope these fellows will not murder you and the lads. Put me down, I beg you; you only increase my suffering by attempting to carry me.”
Very unwillingly, Ned obeyed him. Mr Mason then made signs to the Malays, entreating them to spare our lives; and trying to explain to them, that if they did so, we should certainly be ransomed, and they would be the gainers. They seemed to understand him, for they held a consultation together, as if to decide what was to be done with us. It was an anxious time, for we knew that they were just as likely to settle to cut off our heads as to allow them to remain on our shoulders. We, meantime, sat down near poor Mr Mason; he had been shot in two places, and though we managed to tie handkerchiefs over the wounds, we could do no more. His voice grew weaker and weaker; at length he made no answer to our remarks, and when I lifted up his hand it fell helplessly by his side.