University of Virginia Library

3. CHAPTER III.

When the governor had communicated to his people
that the savages were actually among the islands of their
own group, something very like a panic came over them.
A few minutes, however, sufficed to restore a proper degree
of confidence, when the arrangements necessary to
their immediate security were entered into. As some attention
had previously been bestowed on the fortifications
of the crater, that place was justly deemed the citadel of
the Reef. Some thought the ship would be the most
easily defended, on account of the size of the crater, and
because it had a natural ditch around it, but so much property
was accumulated in and around the crater that it
could not be abandoned without a loss to which the governor
had no idea of submitting. The gate of the crater
was nothing in the way of defence, it is true; but one of
the carronades had been planted so as to command it, and
this was thought sufficient for repelling all ordinary assaults.
It has been said, already, that the outer wall of
the crater was perpendicular at its base, most probably
owing to the waves of the ocean in that remote period

when the whole Reef was washed by them in every gale
of wind. This perpendicular portion of the rock, moreover,
was much harder than the ordinary surface of the Summit,
owing in all probability to the same cause. It was even
polished in appearance, and in general was some eighteen
or twenty feet in height, with the exception of the two or
three places, by one of which Mark and Betts had clambered
up on their first visit to the Summit. These places,
always small, and barely sufficient to allow of a man's finding
footing on them, had long been picked away, in order
to prevent the inroads of Kitty, and when the men had
turned their attention to rendering the place secure against
a sudden inroad, they being the only points where an enemy
could get up, without resorting to ladders or artificial
assistance, had, by means of additional labour, been rendered
as secure as all the rest of the `outer wall,' as the
base of the crater was usually termed among them. It was
true, that civilized assailants, who had the ordinary means
at command, would soon have mastered this obstacle; but
savages would not be likely to come prepared to meet it.
The schooner, with her cradle and ways, had required all
the loose timber, to the last stick, and the enemy was not
likely to procure any supplies from the ship-yard. Two
of the carronades were on the Summit, judiciously planted;
two were on board the Abraham, as was one of the long
sixes, and the remainder of the guns, (three at the rock
excepted) were still on board the ship.

Mark divided his forces for the night. As Bridget habitually
lived in the Rancocus' cabins, he did not derange
her household at all, but merely strengthened her crew, by
placing Bigelow and Socrates on board her; each with his
family; while Betts assumed the command of the crater,
having for his companion Jones. These were small garrisons;
but the fortresses were strong, considering all the
circumstances, and the enemy were uncivilized, knowing
but little of fire-arms. By nine o'clock everything was
arranged, and most of the women and children were on
their beds, though no one there undressed that night.

Mark and Betts met, by agreement, alongside of the
schooner, as soon as their respective duties elsewhere
would allow. As the Reef, proper, was an island, they

knew no enemy could find his way on it without coming
by water, or by passing over the narrow bridge which has
already been mentioned as crossing the little strait near
the spring. This rendered them tolerably easy for the
moment, though Mark had assured his companion it was
not possible for the canoes to get to the Reef under several
hours. Neither of the men could sleep, however, and they
thought it as well to be on the look-out, and in company,
as to be tossing about in their berths, or hammocks, by
themselves. The conversation turned on their prospects,
almost as a matter of course.

“We are somewhat short-handed, sir, to go to quarters
ag'in them vagabonds,” observed Betts, in reply to some
remark of the governor's. “I counted a hundred and
three of their craft when they was off the Peak the other
day, and not one on 'em all had less than four hands aboard
it, while the biggest must have had fifty. All told, I do
think, Mr. Mark, they might muster from twelve to fifteen
hundred fighting men.”

“That has been about my estimate of their force, Bob;
but, if they were fifteen thousand, we must bring them to
action, for we fight for everything.”

“Ay, ay, sir,” answered Betts, ejecting the tobacco juice
in the customary way, “there's reason in roasted eggs, they
say, and there's reason in firing a few broadsides afore a
body gives up. What a different place this here rock's got
to be, sir, from what it was when you and I was floating
sea-weed and rafting loam to it, to make a melon or a cucumber
bed! Times is changed, sir, and we're now at
war. Then it was all peace and quiet; and now it's all
hubbub and disturbance.”

“We have got our wives here now, and that I think
you'll admit is something, Bob, when you remember the
pains taken by yourself to bring so great a happiness
about.”

“Why, yes, sir—I'll allow the wives is something —”

“Ship ahoy!” hailed a voice in good English, and in
the most approved seaman-like tones of the voice.

The hail came from the margin of the island nearest to
the Reef, or that which was connected with the latter by

means of the bridge, but not from a point very near the
latter.

“In the name of heavenly marcy!” exclaimed Betts,
“what can that mean, governor?”

“I know that voice,” said Mark, hurriedly: “and the
whole matter begins to clear up to me. Who hails the
Rancocus?”

“Is that ship the Rancocus, then?” answered the voice
from the island.

“The Rancocus, and no other—are you not Bill Brown,
her late carpenter?”

“The very same, God bless you, Mr. Woolston, for I
now know your voice, too. I'm Bill, and right down glad
am I to have things turn out so. I half suspected the truth
when I saw a ship's spars this arternoon in this place,
though little did I think, yesterday, of ever seeing anything
more of the old 'Cocus. Can you give me a cast across
this bit of a ferry, sir?”

“Are you alone, Bill—or who have you for companions?”

“There's two on us, sir, only — Jim Wattles and I —
seven on us was saved in the launch; Mr. Hillson and the
supercargo both dying afore we reached the land, as did
the other man, we seven still living, though only two on us
is here.”

“Are there any black fellows with you?—Any of the
natives?”

“Not one, sir. We gave 'em the slip two hours ago, or
as soon as we saw the ship's masts, being bent on getting
afloat in some craft or other, in preference to stopping with
savages any longer. No, Mr. Woolston; no fear of them
to-night, for they are miles and miles to leeward, bothered
in the channels, where they'll be pretty sartain to pass the
night; though you'll hear from 'em in the morning. Jim
and I took to our land tacks, meeting with a good opportunity;
and by running directly in the wind's eye, have
come out here. We hid ourselves till the canoes was out
of sight, and then we carried sail as hard as we could. So
give us a cast and take us aboard the old ship again, Mr.
Woolston, if you love a fellow-creatur', and an old shipmate
in distress.”

Such was the singular dialogue which succeeded the

unexpected hail. It completely put a new face on things
at the Reef. As Brown was a valuable man, and one
whose word he had always relied on, Mark did not hesitate,
but told him the direction to the bridge, where he and
Betts met him and Wattles, after each of the parties had
believed the others to be dead now fully three years!

The two recovered seamen of the Rancocus were alone,
having acted in perfect good faith with their former officer,
who led them to the awning, gave them some refreshment,
and heard their story. The account given by Jones, for
the first time that very day, turned out to be essentially
true. When the launch was swept away from the ship, it
drove down to leeward, passing at no great distance from
the crater, of which the men in her got a glimpse, without
being able to reach it. The attention of Hillson was mainly
given to keeping the boat from filling or capsizing; and
this furnished abundance of occupation. The launch got
into one of the channels, and by observing the direction,
which was nearly east and west, it succeeded in passing
through all the dangers, coming out to leeward of the
shoals. As everybody believed that the ship was hopelessly
lost, no effort was made to get back to the spot where she
had been left. No island appearing, Hillson determined
to run off to the westward, trusting to fall in with land
of some sort or other. The provisions and water were
soon consumed, and then came the horrors usual to such
scenes at sea. Hillson was one of the first that perished,
his previous excesses unfitting him to endure privation.
But seven survived when the launch reached an island in
Waally's part of the group, so often mentioned. There
they fell into the hands of that turbulent and warlike chief.
Waally made the seamen his slaves, treating them reasonably
well, but exacting of them the closest attention to his
interests. Brown, as a ship-carpenter, soon became a favourite,
and was employed in fashioning craft that it was
thought might be useful in carrying out the ambitious projects
of his master. The men were kept on a small island,
and were watched like any other treasure, having no opportunity
to communicate with any of those whites who
appeared in other parts of the group. Thus, while Betts
passed two months with Ooroony, and Heaton and his

party nearly as much more time, these sailors, who heard
of such visitors, could never get access to them. This
was partly owing to the hostilities between the two chiefs
—Ooroony being then in the ascendant—and partly owing
to the special projects of Waally, who, by keeping his prisoners
busily employed on his fleet, looked forward to the
success which, in fact, crowned his efforts against his
rival.

At length Waally undertook the expedition which had
appeared in such force beneath the cliffs of the Peak. By
this time, Brown had become so great a favourite, that he
was permitted to accompany the chief; and Wattles was
brought along as a companion for his shipmate. The remaining
five were left behind, to complete a craft on which
they had now been long employed, and which was intended
to be the invincible war-canoe of those regions. Brown
and Wattles had been in Waally's own canoe when the terrible
echoes so much alarmed the uninstructed beings who
heard it. They described them as much the most imposing
echoes they had ever heard; nor did they, at first,
know what to make of them, themselves. It was only on
reflection, and after the retreat to Rancocus Island, that
Brown, by reasoning on the subject, came to the conclusion
that the whites, who were supposed to be in possession
of the place, had fired a gun, which had produced the
astounding uproar that had rattled so far along the cliff.
As all Brown's sympathies were with the unknown people
of his own colour, he kept his conjectures to himself, and
managed to lead Waally in a different direction, by certain
conclusions of his own touching the situation of the
reef where the Rancocus had been lost.

Bill Brown was an intelligent man for his station and
pursuits. He knew the courses steered by the launch, and
had some tolerably accurate notions of the distances run.
According to his calculations, that reef could not be very
far to the northward of the Peak, and, by ascending the
mountains on Rancocus Island, he either saw, or fancied
he saw, the looming of land in that part of the ocean. It
then occurred to Brown that portions of the wreck might
still be found on the reef, and become the means of effecting
his escape from the hands of his tyrants. Waally

listened to his statements and conjectures with the utmost
attention, and the whole fleet put to sea the very next day,
in quest of this treasure. After paddling to windward
again, until the Peak was fairly in sight, Brown steered to
the north-east, a course that brought him out, after twenty-four
hours of toil, under the lee of the group of the reef.
This discovery of itself, filled Waally with exultation and
pride. Here were no cliffs to scale, no mysterious mountain
to appal, nor any visible obstacle to oppose his conquests.
It is true, that the newly-discovered territory did
not appear to be of much value, little beside naked rock,
or broad fields of mud and sea-weed intermingled, rewarding
their first researches. But better things were hoped for.
It was something to men whose former domains were so
much circumscribed and girded by the ocean, to find even
a foundation for a new empire. Brown was now consulted
as to every step to be taken, and his advice was implicitly
followed. Columbus was scarcely a greater man, for the
time being, at the court of Ferdinand and Isabella, than
Bill Brown immediately became at the court of Waally.
His words were received as prophecies, his opinions as
oracles.

Honest Bill, who anticipated no more from his discoveries
than the acquisition of certain portions of wood, iron,
and copper, with, perhaps, the addition of a little rigging,
certain sails and an anchor or two, acted, at first; for the
best interests of his master. He led the fleet along the
margin of the group until a convenient harbour was found.
Into this all the canoes entered, and a sandy beach supplying
fresh water in abundance having been found, an encampment
was made for the night. Several hours of day-light
remaining, however, when these great preliminary
steps had been taken, Brown proposed to Waally an exploring
expedition in a couple of the handiest of the canoes.
The people thus employed were those who had given the
alarm to the governor. On that occasion, not only was the
boat seen, but the explorers were near enough to the reef,
to discover not only the crater, but the spars of the ship.
Here, then, was a discovery scarcely less important than
that of the group itself! After reasoning on the facts,
Waally came to the conclusion that these, after all, were

the territories that Heaton and his party had come to seek,
and that here he should find those cows which he had once
seen, and which he coveted more than any other riches on
earth. Ooroony had been weak enough to allow strangers
in possession of things so valuable, to pass through his
islands; but he, Waally, was not the man to imitate this
folly. Brown, too, began to think that the white men
sought were to be found here. That whites were in the
group was plain enough by the ship, and he supposed they
might be fishing for the pearl-oyster, or gathering bêche-le-mar
for the Canton market. It was just possible that a
colony had established itself in this unfrequented place, and
that the party of which he had heard so much, had come
hither with their stores and herds. Not the smallest suspicion
at first crossed his mind that he there beheld the spars
of the Rancocus; but, it was enough for him and Wattles
that Christian men were there, and that, in all probability,
they were men of the Anglo-Saxon race. No sooner was
it ascertained that the explorers were in a false channel,
and that it would not be in their power to penetrate farther
in their canoes, than our two seamen determined to run,
and attach themselves to the strangers. They naturally
thought that they should find a vessel armed and manned,
and ready to stand out to sea as soon as her officers were
apprized of the danger that threatened them, and did not
hesitate about joining their fortune with hers, in preference
to remaining with Waally any longer. Freedom possesses
a charm for which no other advantage can compensate, and
those two old sea-dogs, who had worked like horses all their
lives, in their original calling, preferred returning to the
ancient drudgery rather than live with Waally, in the rude
abundance of savage chiefs. The escape was easily enough
made, as soon as it was dark, Brown and Wattles being on
shore most of the time, under the pretence that it was necessary,
in order that they might ascertain the character
of these unknown colonists by signs understood best by
themselves.

Such is a brief outline of the explanations that the two
recovered seamen made to their former officer. In return,
the governor as briefly related to them the manner in which
the ship had been saved, and the history of the colony down

to that moment. When both tales had been told, a consultation
on the subject of future proceedings took place, quite
as a matter of course. Brown, and his companion, though
delighted to meet their old ship-mates, were greatly disappointed
in not finding a sea-going vessel ready to receive
them. They did not scruple to say that had they known
the actual state of things on the Reef, they would not have
left the savages, but trusted to being of more service even
to their natural friends, by continuing with Waally, in their
former relation, than by taking the step they had. Repentance,
or regrets, however, came too late; and now
they were fairly in for it, neither expressed any other determination
than to stand by the service into which they
had just entered, honestly, if not quite as gladly as they
had anticipated.

The governor and Betts both saw that Brown and Wattles
entertained a high respect for the military prowess of
the Indian chief. They pronounced him to be not only a
bold, but an adroit warrior; one, full of resources and ingenuity,
when his means were taken into the account.
The number of men with him, however, Brown assured
Mark, was less than nine hundred, instead of exceeding a
thousand, as had been supposed from the count made on
the cliffs. As it now was explained, a great many women
were in the canoes. Waally, moreover, was not altogether
without fire-arms. He was master of a dozen old, imperfect
muskets, and what was more, he had a four-pound
gun. Ammunition, however, was very scarce, and of shot
for his gun he had but three. Each of these shot had been
fired several times, in his wars with Ooroony, and days
had been spent in hunting them up, after they had done
their work, and of replacing them in the chief's magazine.
Brown could not say that they had done much mischief,
having, in every instance, being fired at long distances,
and with a very uncertain aim. The business of sighting
guns was not very well understood by the great mass of
Christians, half a century since; and it is not at all surprising
that savages should know little or nothing about it.
Waally's gunners, according to Brown's account of the
matter, could never be made to understand that the bore
of a gun was not exactly parallel to its exterior surface,

and they invariably aimed too high, by sighting along the
upper side of the piece. This same fault is very common
with the inexperienced in using a musket; for, anxious to
get a sight of the end of their piece, they usually stick it
up into the air and overshoot their object. It was the
opinion of Brown, on the whole, that little was to be apprehended
from Waally's fire-arms. The spear and club
were the weapons to be dreaded; and with these the
islanders were said to be very expert. But the disparity
in numbers was the main ground of apprehension.

When Brown was told how near the schooner was to
being launched, he earnestly begged the governor to let
him and Bigelow go to work and put her into the water,
immediately. Everything necessary to a cruise was on
board her, even to her provisions and water, the arrangements
having been made to launch her with her sails bent;
and, once in the water, Bill thought she would prove of
the last importance to the defence. If the worst came to
the worst, all hands could get on board her, and by standing
through some of the channels that were clear of canoes,
escape into the open water. Once there, Waally could do
nothing with them, and they might be governed by circumstances.

Woolston viewed things a little differently. He loved
the Reef; it had become dear to him by association and
history, and he did not relish the thought of abandoning it.
There was too much property at risk, to say nothing of the
ship, which would doubtless be burned for its metals, should
the Indians get possession, even for a day. In that ship
he had sailed; in that ship he had been married; in that
ship his daughter had been born; and in that ship Bridget
loved still to dwell, even more than she affected all the glories
of the Eden of the Peak. That ship was not to be
given up to savages without a struggle. Nor did Mark
believe anything would be gained by depriving the men of
their rest during the accustomed hours. Early in the
morning, with the light itself, he did intend to have Bigelow
under the schooner's bottom; but he saw no occasion for
his working in the dark. Launching was a delicate business,
and some accident might happen in the obscurity.
After talking the matter over, therefore, all hands retired

to rest, leaving one woman at the crater, and one on board
the ship, on the look-out; women being preferred to men,
on this occasion, in order that the latter might reserve their
strength for the coming struggle.

At the appointed hour next morning, every one on the
Reef was astir at the first peep of day. No disturbance
had occurred in the night, and, what is perhaps a little
remarkable, the female sentinels had not given any false
alarm. As soon as a look from the Summit gave the governor
reason to believe that Waally was not very near
him, he ordered preparations to be made for the launch of
the Friend Abraham White. A couple of hours' work was
still required to complete this desirable task; and everybody
set about his or her assigned duty with activity and
zeal. Some of the women prepared the breakfast; others
carried ammunition to the different guns, while Betts went
round and loaded them, one and all; and others, again,
picked up such articles of value as had been overlooked in
the haste of the previous evening, carrying them either
into the crater, or on board the ship.

On examining his fortifications by daylight, the governor
resolved to set up something more secure in the way of a
gate for the crater. He also called off two or three of the
men to get out the boarding-netting of the ship, which was
well provided in that respect; a good provision having been
made, by way of keeping the Fejee people at arms' length.
These two extraordinary offices delayed the work on the
ways; and when the whole colony went to breakfast, which
they did about an hour after sunrise, the schooner was not
yet in the water, though quite ready to be put there. Mark
announced that there was no occasion to be in a hurry;
no canoes were in sight, and there was time to have everything
done deliberately and in order.

This security came very near proving fatal to the whole
party. Most of the men breakfasted under the awning,
which was near their work; while the women took that
meal in their respective quarters. Some of the last were
in the crater, and some in the ship. It will be remembered
that the awning was erected near the spring, and that the
spring was but a short distance from the bridge. This
bridge, it will also be recollected, connected the Reef with

an island that stretched away for miles, and which had
formed the original range for the swine, after the changes
that succeeded the eruption. It was composed of merely
two long ship's planks, the passage being only some fifty or
sixty feet in width.

The governor, now, seldom ate with his people. He
knew enough of human nature to understand that authority
was best preserved by avoiding familiarity. Besides, there
is, in truth, no association more unpleasant to those whose
manners have been cultivated, than that of the table, with
the rude and unrefined. Bridget, for instance, could
hardly be expected to eat with the wives of the seamen;
and Mark naturally wished to eat with his own family. On
that occasion he had taken his meal in the cabin of the
Rancocus, as usual, and had come down to the awning to
see that the hands turned-to as soon as they were through
with their own breakfasts. Just as he was about to issue
the necessary order, the air was filled with frightful yells,
and a stream of savages poured out of an opening in the
rocks, on to the plain of the “hog pasture,” as the adjoining
field was called, rushing forward in a body towards the
crater. They had crept along under the rocks by following
a channel, and now broke cover within two hundred
yards of the point they intended to assail.

The governor behaved admirably on this trying occasion.
He issued his orders clearly, calmly, and promptly. Calling
on Bigelow and Jones by name, he ordered them to
withdraw the bridge, which could easily be done by hauling
over the planks by means of wheels that had long been
fitted for that purpose. The bridge withdrawn, the channel,
or harbour, answered all the purposes of a ditch;
though the South Sea islanders would think but little of
swimming across it. Of course, Waally's men knew nothing
of this bridge, nor did they know of the existence of
the basin between them and their prey. They rushed directly
towards the ship-yard, and loud were their yells of
disappointment when they found a broad reach of water
still separating them from the whites. Naturally they
looked for the point of connection; but, by this time, the
planks were wheeled in, and the communication was severed.
At this instant, Waally had all his muskets discharged,

and the gun fired from the catamaran, on which
it was mounted. No one was injured by this volley, but a
famous noise was made; and noise passed for a good deal
in the warfare of that day and region.

It was now the turn of the colonists. At the first alarm
everybody rushed to arms, and every post was manned, or
womaned, in a minute. On the poop of the ship was
planted one of the cannon, loaded with grape, and pointed
so as to sweep the strait of the bridge. It is true, the distance
was fully a mile, but Betts had elevated the gun with
a view to its sending its missiles as far as was necessary.
The other carronades on the Summit were pointed so as
to sweep the portion of the hog pasture that was nearest,
and which was now swarming with enemies. Waally,
himself, was in front, and was evidently selecting a party
that was to swim for the sandy beach, a sort of forlorn
hope. No time was to be lost. Juno, a perfect heroine
in her way, stood by the gun on the poop, while Dido was
at those on the Summit, each brandishing, or blowing, a
lighted match. The governor made the preconcerted signal
to the last, and she applied the match. Away went
the grape, rattling along the surface of the opposite rocks,
and damaging at least a dozen of Waally's men. Three
were killed outright, and the wounds of the rest were very
serious. A yell followed, and a young chief rushed towards
the strait, with frantic cries, as if bent on leaping
across the chasm. He was followed by a hundred warriors.
Mark now made the signal to Juno. Not a moment
was lost by the undaunted girl, who touched off her
gun in the very nick of time. Down came the grape, hissing
along the Reef; and, rebounding from its surface,
away it leaped across the strait, flying through the thickest
of the assailants. A dozen more suffered by that discharge.
Waally now saw that a crisis was reached, and his efforts
to recover the ground lost were worthy of his reputation.
Calling to the swimmers, he succeeded in getting them
down into the water in scores.

The governor had ordered those near him to their stations.
This took Jones and Bigelow on board the Abraham,
where two carronades were pointed through the stern
ports, forming a battery to rake the hog pasture, which it

was foreseen must be the field of battle if the enemy came
by land, as it was the only island that came near enough
to the Reef to be used in that way. As for Mark himself,
accompanied by Brown and Wattles, all well armed,
he held his party in reserve, as a corps to be moved wherever
it might be most needed. At that all-important moment
a happy idea occurred to the young governor. The
schooner was all ready for launching. The reserve were
under her bottom, intending to make a stand behind the
covers of the yard, when Mark found himself at one of the
spur-shores, just as Brown, armed to the teeth, came up
to the other.

“Lay aside your arms,” cried the governor, “and knock
away your spur-shore, Bill!—Down with it, while I knock
this away!—Look out on deck, for we are about to launch
you!”

These words were just uttered, when the schooner began
to move. All the colonists now cheered, and away the
Abraham went, plunging like a battering-ram into the
midst of the swimmers. While dipping deepest, Bigelow
and Jones fired both their carronades, the shot of which
threw the whole basin into foam. This combination of
the means of assault was too much for savages to resist.
Waally was instantly routed. His main body retreated into
the coves of the channel, where their canoes lay, while the
swimmers and stragglers got out of harm's way, in the best
manner they could.

Not a moment was to be lost. The Abraham was brought
up by a hawser, as is usual, and was immediately boarded
by Mark, Bigelow and Wattles. This gave her a crew of
five men, who were every way equal to handling her. Betts
was left in command of the Reef, with the remainder of
the forces. To make sail required but two minutes, and
Mark was soon under way, rounding Loam Island, or what
had once been Loam Island, for it was now connected
with the hog pasture, in order to get into the reach where
Waally had his forces. This reach was a quarter of a
mile wide, and gave room for manœuvring. Although the
schooner bore down to the assault with a very determined
air, it was by no means Mark's cue to come to close quarters.
Being well to windward, with plenty of room, he kept

the Abraham tacking, yawing, waring, and executing other
of the devices of nautical delay, whilst his men loaded and
fired her guns as fast as they could. There were more
noise and smoke, than there was bloodshed, as commonly
happens on such occasions; but these sufficed to secure the
victory. The savages were soon in a real panic, and no
authority of Waally's could check their flight. Away they
paddled to leeward, straining every nerve to get away from
pursuers, whom they supposed to be murderously bent on
killing them to a man. A more unequivocal flight never
occurred in war.

Although the governor was much in earnest, he was not
half as bloodthirsty as his fleeing enemies imagined. Every
dictate of prudence told him not to close with the canoes
until he had plenty of sea-room. The course they were
steering would take them all out of the group, into the
open water, in the course of three or four hours, and he
determined to follow at a convenient distance, just hastening
the flight by occasional hints from his guns. In this
manner, the people of the Abraham had much the easiest
time of it, for they did little besides sail, while the savages
had to use all their paddles to keep out of the schooner's
way; they sailed, also, but their speed under their cocoa-nut
canvas was not sufficient to keep clear of the Friend
Abraham White, which proved to be a very fast vessel, as
well as one easily handled.

At length, Waally found his fleet in the open ocean,
where he trusted the chase would end. But he had greatly
mistaken the course of events, in applying that `flattering
unction.' It was now that the governor commenced the
chase in good earnest, actually running down three of the
canoes, and making prisoners of one of the crews. In
this canoe was a young warrior, whom Bill Brown and
Wattles at once recognised as a favourite son of the chief.
Here was a most important conquest, and, Mark turned it to
account. He selected a proper agent from among the captives,
and sent him with a palm-branch to Waally himself,
with proposals for an exchange. There was no difficulty
in communicating, since Brown and Wattles both spoke
the language of the natives with great fluency. Three
years of captivity had, at least, taught them that much.

A good deal of time was wasted before Waally could be
brought to confide in the honour of his enemies. At last,
love for his offspring brought him, unarmed, alongside of
the schooner, and the governor met this formidable chief,
face to face. He found the latter a wily and intelligent
savage. Nevertheless, he had not the art to conceal his
strong affection for his son, and on that passion did Mark
Woolston play. Waally offered canoes, robes of feathers,
whales' teeth, and every thing that was most esteemed
among his own people, as a ransom for the boy. But this
was not the exchange the governor desired to make. He
offered to restore the son to the arms of his father as soon
as the five seamen who were still prisoners on his citadel
island should be brought alongside of the schooner. If
these terms were rejected, the lad must take the fate of
war.

Great was the struggle in the bosom of Waally, between
natural affection, and the desire to retain his captives.
After two hours of subterfuges, artifices, and tricks, the
former prevailed, and a treaty was made. Agreeably to its
conditions, the schooner was to pilot the fleet of canoes to
Betto's group, which could easily be done, as Mark knew
not only its bearings, but its latitude and longitude. As
soon as this was effected, Waally engaged to send a messenger
for the seamen, and to remain himself on board the
Abraham until the exchange was completed. The chief
wished to attach terms, by which the colonists were to aid
him in more effectually putting down Ooroony, who was
checked rather than conquered, but Mark refused to listen
to any such proposition. He was more disposed to aid,
than to overcome the kind hearted Ooroony, and made up
his mind to have an interview with him before he returned
from the intended voyage.

Some delay would have occurred, to enable Mark to let
Bridget know of his intended absence, had it not been for
the solicitude of Betts. Finding the sails of the schooner
had gone out of sight to leeward, Bob manned the Neshamony,
and followed as a support. In the event of a wreck,
for instance, his presence might have been of the last importance.
He got alongside of the Abraham just as the
treaty was concluded, and was in time to carry back the

news to the crater, where he might expect still to arrive
that evening. With this arrangement, therefore, the parties
separated, Betts beating back, through the channels
of the Reef, and the governor leading off to the northward
and westward, under short canvas; all of Waally's canoes,
catamarans, &c. following about a mile astern of him.