With Cochrane the Dauntless

with one of the mates, as in so large a city the boys, if alone, might well have got into trouble. Stephen went with the first mate, and was glad at the arrangement

d would have laid out much of his spare cas

r in London; but in the first place, one always finds plenty of things there to spend one's money on; and in the second place, the people here know exactly the sort of goods needed in the islands, and one can get them all at one stall instead of having to hunt about in a dozen shops for them. We are each allowed to trade on our own account up to a certain amount; a

ngs do you buy th

or a rare skin that I exchanged for a twopenny looking-glass and half a dozen brass buttons, but of course that was an exceptional case; for, as a rule, they will average two or three shillings apiece. You had

out twenty pounds in similar purchases, and then they returned to the ship, which was anchored a mile down the ri

and examining the birds there. No doubt you will be able to find out from one of the attendants which are rare ones, and might be able to consult some books on the subject. You may have the luck to come across skins that are altogether new; and, at any rate, a little knowledge would enable you to exchange your goods to a very much greater advantage than you could otherwise do. A knowledge of that kind is always useful to a sailo

; but however friendly their bearing, there was never any abatement of the vigilance by the captain and his officers. Only a certain number were allowed to come on board to trade. The seamen always carried cutlasses by their side and a brace of pistols in their belts, and even when they went ashore for wood or water [pg 33]two boats were always sent, half the men with loaded muskets keeping guard

er. Numbers of ships' companies have been massacred owing to the captains putting faith in appearances, and allowing too many of the copper-coloured scoundrels to get on board at once. As long as you make a rule that not more than twenty or thirt

iness on the part of the natives. The first mate, too, was a good sailor, but new to the islands, and too fond of his grog; but luckily the second mate had

hat he regarded this precaution as altogether uncalled for. The natives came on board as usual, at first only two or three canoe loads, but gradually the number of Malays on deck became larger and larger, and quite a crowd of boats were clustered round. I could see that Pearson, the second mate, was in a fidget; he glanced at me significantly two or three times, and I began to think myself that he might

ngs, Mr. Pinder,' one of them,

sign to him that it is for his use, put the other three down in front of me, and then do you and Bob Hawkins take your places between me and Mr. Pea

cy we did not throw away a shot between us, and cleared [pg 35]a space in front of us, then snatching up the axes we made at them tooth and nail. We first fought our way aft. The first mate was fighting like a demon; he had caught up a handspike, and, being a very powerful man, kept off his assailants fairly till we cut our way through and joined him. The moment he was fre

earson shouted. 'Depress them as mu

ute later I heard one of the cannon go off,

deck,' I shouted, 'but don't

s up on to the top of the forecastle. We could make no way now, and it was as much as we could do to hold our own. I foug

klin!' but it was not until I touched him and s

o them, cut down one or two of the rascals, an

selves with the capstan-bars, ran down the ladder and fell upon them. In another minute it was all over. The Malays who remained alive sprang over the bulwark, and we discharged the remaining five cannons into the canoes, smashing up numbers of them, and the rest paddled for the shore for their lives. We had time now to look around. It was an awful sight. Over fifty Malays lay dead, together with eleven of our men, besides the captain. If it had not been for Pearson not a soul would have lived

EROUS MALAYS WITH A WI

ad heated his blood by drink, and that in a hot climate is fatal, so we buried him ten days after the fight. Thus, you see, we lost two officers and thirteen men, [pg 37]and all for want of taking precautions. Of course we sailed at once for Calcutta, and luckily had fine weather on the way; we should have fared badly with but half a crew had we fallen in with a

had your other ad

e became great friends, and in his report of the affair he gave me more credit than I deserved for my idea of getting those hatchets up, which, he said, alone enabled us to make a successful defence. I had the more cause to regret his transfer, since the captain was an obstinate man, as we found out during the voyage, and just as much inclined to treat the natives with contempt as

uns quietly loaded, and you and I will keep watch, while I will order the crew to turn in all standing, so as to be ready to tumble out at once. It is mighty hard to keep awake on these soft nights when the anchor is down, and with neither you nor I on deck the betting is two to one that the hands on

ours' sleep and be up at eight bells. It won't begin to get light until after

nly taken off my shoes and carried these in my hand, so as to avoid

generally keep on feasting and making a row half the night. Keep your ears well open, for there is no trusting the watch. Every time I have gone forward I have found t

aid; 'I will keep

o men on watch and told them that they must keep a sharp look-out, for that it was likely enough we might be attacked before morning. Then I lit my pipe and paced up and down the deck, stopping occasionally to listen intently. It was nearly

hear that?

were wide

a noise; but I don

r canoes,' I said. 'I wil

vis woke directl

their canoes,' I said. 'I hav

inutes. There was certainly a movement on shore, but it was di

mate said presently;

had been as smooth as oil before; it was no longer so, but it was br

ring them down, however quietly, would break up this glassy surface, and the ripples once started would run out here. Anyhow we will get the men out. Tell them to come noiselessly. We will serve out the arms and ammunition to them, but we won't

wake the

bunks again. He has made up his mind that there is no danger, and the obstinate beggar

. Half an hour passed without the slightest sound being heard. Then the men fidgeted and whis

s said sharply, 'I

e air rather than a sound, and Watkins the boatswain, who had been years and years in vessels trading among the islands

he mate said. 'How far off

if the men take pains with their paddling, will come within a hundred yards [pg 41]of you before you

ar any noise at all, and that it is all our fancy. In ten minutes there will be no mistaking it. Watkins, you had better get

wain said, and soon brought it on

out. It won't take above a couple of minutes, es

he oars was unmistakable, and Pu

e skipper said as

ir, and we have reason to believe that the canoes

said angrily as he came from his door. 'You a

en said: 'Stuff and nonsense! What, have you go

s, and we are not going to submit to have our throats cut tamely, Mr. Pinder thoroughly agrees with me, and so does the boatswain, that the

ely agree with yo

tiny!' the skippe

than have my throat cut here. Now, si

captain said. 'In the morning

as well as I do that we shall shortly be attacked, and shall have to fight hard for our lives. The captain is of opin

angry growl fr

we shall want it before we have done. Do it quietly; it is as well these fellows on shore s

uently, the men were enabled to load the guns without noise, moving about the deck on their naked feet like shadows. Then the boarding-nettings were triced up, arms distributed amongst the men, each having a boarding-pike, a cutlass, and a brace of pistols.

help hearing the oars now, and I know that he is plucky enough, and will

gether to t

ve come to tell you that the proas are within a mile of u

exclamation. He opened the door without a word and went straight

rong, and there is no doubt we are going to be attacked. I am heartil

in. We are ready to begin as

out again in a minute;' and in less

he guns load

and the boardin

make the

wer it and row a couple of ship's-lengths and drop it there, then we can warp her round, so as to bring all our gu

o at once,

rection the mate pointed out. The anchor was let drop, and the boat returned to the ship, paying out the haw

at low point half a mile away. Haul on the hawser and bring her broadsid

ship was swung round, they were all in position. The proas, now n

captain said, 'and fire as soo

t the reports wild yells broke from the pr

ou can with grape,'

had reloaded one had disappeared, and there was shouting and confusion

until I giv

ents into the crowded decks. The effect was terrible. Two of the proas ceased rowing altogether, and some o

ders. The starboard watch will l

hem up alongside, they simply came up bows on. As they [pg 45]struck the side the Malays tried to climb up, but, attacking as they did only at three points, our men had little

loaded?' the c

ir,' came f

ter,' the captain said; 'then run the port guns back to

paddled out towards us. The steward now lit and ran up half a dozen lanterns. We got t

ad the guns,' cried the captain;

e were two little guns on the poop, and when I had loaded the guns on the port side the captain sent me up to load these. I crammed them with bullets up to the muzzle, and then ran them to the poop railing, and placed one of the hands there with a lighted match. We had a tough ten minutes of it, and if the canoes had come up at the same time as the proas it would have gone hard wi

in a footing to be dangerous. The captain had been keeping the guns in reserve in case the proa that had dropped behind at first shou

oadsides. Aim into

everal of the others turned and paddled to the shore; and a moment later, the men

g salute.' We ran the two little quarter-deck guns over and peppered them

frightfully. In the morning the captain called the crew aft, and made a speech thanking them for their conduct, and saying that they owed their safety and that of the ship to the first mate a

the islands without having half my guns double-shotted, and the other [pg 47]half loaded with grape; and there is always an officer and half a watch on deck, so that

ant the plumage; but whenever he saw one that was new to him he at once made an offer for it. But as this was seldom, his box filled but slowly, until one day he went ashore with the captain, the first mate, and twelve sailors armed to the teeth, to pay a visit to the chief. On the few occasions on which he had landed he always carried with him a hand-bag filled full of trade goods. On the present occasion, after the feasting had gone on for some time, he stole out from the

lors. "I think this fellow wants to trade with me; but they are tre

ht that he might be possessed of articles of a better class than those usually offered. In one corner of the hut stood a seaman's

have been plunde

ch doubt about that. I should like to

of signs to the effect that there had been a great st

hat won't do for us. Those chronometers would never have fl

He would indeed have given them for the looking-glasses alone if Stephen had held out for them, for he regarded the chronometers with a certain sense of dread; they were to him mysteries, having made, when first brought ashore, a ticking noise, and were generally considered to be in some way alive. They were, therefore, left out i

en for inspection. The lad had difficulty in repressing an exclamation, for it was full of guineas, but put it down and placed the watch beside it, assumed an air of indifference, and then made up another pile of about equal value to the first, bu

e asked, as he appeared

-jacket and some togs in that chest. I have no doubt that it belonged to the c

hinking that some papers might be found that would give a clue to the name of the ship that it had belonged to, but nothing of the sort was discovered.

d somewhere near here. I have bought the chronometers and quadrants, and they have certainly not been in the water; also the contents of a sea-chest, which I

ptain

e fellows are beginning to get drunk with this beastly liquor of theirs, and it is

ook their seats in the boa