The Two Whalers; Or, Adventures in the Pacific

by William Henry Giles Kingston

The strangers made no reply, but we could hear them talking among themselves. Presently one of them shouted, “We must take what we want!” and the whole gang, numbering three times as many as our party, uttering savage shouts, came rushing on, till, when they were within twenty yards of us, the Kroomen, without waiting for orders, fired at them. They, on this, hesitated for a moment, and then there came a random volley from muskets and pistols, the shots whistling past our ears. A dreadful idea occurred to me.

“Mrs Bland and Mary may be hurt, sir,” I exclaimed.

“No fear of that, my lad,” said the captain; “I bade them lie down under their bedding, for I thought that the rascals might use their fire-arms.”

Just as he spoke the pirates began again to advance, though with more caution than at first, but they had not moved many steps when the four seamen fired, and the Kroomen, who had quickly reloaded, did the same. This again checked the advance of the pirates, who probably did not expect to meet with so warm a reception.

“Reserve your fire the rest of you,” shouted the captain, to give the fellows the idea that we had more men ready to receive them should they venture to come on. Strange to say, none of our party were hit, nor, as far as we could tell, were any of them brought to the ground. Providentially for us, the whole of the pirates being drunk, and many of them cowards at heart, instead of rushing forward, as we had expected them to do, they retired to a distance, shouting and swearing at us as they went off. I thought that Captain Bland would now send his wife and daughter out of danger on board the “Eagle,” but he considered that by so doing the few men who remained might be overpowered, and his property left to the mercy of the pirates.

“I don’t think that the fellows will return, and if they do we must treat them as before,” he observed. “The chances are that in a short time they will be all fast asleep. They attacked us in a drunken freak more than with any settled plan.”

For some time it appeared that he was right. He returned to the tent to relieve the anxiety of his wife and daughter, while Medley and I mounted guard with Pepper and Salt, telling the other men that we expected them to relieve us in a couple of hours. Before half that time, however, had expired, we heard the pirates again coming on. Presently, giving vent to the most fearful shouts and shrieks, they fired a volley at us and then came rushing on. Their voices aroused our companions, who sprang out to our assistance, while Captain Bland, who had been on the alert, also joined us.

“Kneel down, lads, and do not fire till I give the word,” he said, in a low voice.

We obeyed him, and scarcely had we done so than the pirates, still shouting and shrieking, discharged their pieces, the shot, however, flying over our heads; then on they again came, but before they got much nearer, a hearty cheer rose from the direction of the beach, and some thirty men or more from the two ships, armed with pikes, cutlasses, and muskets, came tramping up, again cheering lustily. We all fired just before they joined us. The pirates did not stop to encounter them, but scampered off as fast as their legs could carry them, several throwing down their weapons the more quickly to escape. Captain Hake, who led the party just landed, followed with most of the men for some distance, but no one could move rapidly over the rough ground, and the pirates, favoured by the darkness, and better acquainted with the country than we were, effected their escape. Though there was very little chance of their again molesting us, watch was kept during the night. Captain Hake said that on hearing the firing, suspecting that we were attacked, though by whom he could not conjecture, he had lowered his own boats, and summoned Captain Bland’s crew to our assistance. The next morning a party set off to try and capture our assailants, but they had managed to reach their schooner, which was seen standing out to sea. Though no dead bodies were found, marks of blood seen on the rocks showed that several had been wounded.

Mary was unwilling to make any more distant excursions, but she and her mother continued to reside on the island till the “Lady Alice” was ready for sea. Now came the moment of trial. Captain Hake had been specially civil whenever he met me in company with Captain Bland, and I began to hope that he would allow me to join the “Lady Alice.” My old friend at length once more pressed the point. Captain Hake at once assumed the stern manner he knew well how to put on.