204 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET. 



sel for action. On came the barges, but the privateer 

 was ready to receive them. It had been determined to 

 board and carry the privateer by assault; but when the 

 attempt was made, the attacking party were met by 

 such a terribly stern and stubborn resistance that after 

 a fight of only thirty-five minutes, in which the en- 

 emy lost the commander of the party, one hundred 

 and twenty men in killed and prisoners, and three 

 boats, they were obliged to give up the attempt. 

 Five only of the privateer's crew were killed, includ- 

 ing the pilot, who was Mr. Charles J. Hillburn of 

 Nantucket. 



The prize which was beached proved to be the ship 

 " Douglass," loaded with sugar, from Jamaica for Lon- 

 don. She was "wrecked" by the citizens, and was 

 afterwards broken up at Wauwinet. After the ter- 

 rible repulse of her boats, the " Endymion" put into 

 Tarpaulin Cove, from which place officers were sent 

 to the island to look after her men. The wounded 

 had all been brought to town, and were properly cared 

 for. The privateer sailed for Boston, where, she safely 

 arrived, and captain and crew were alike honored. 



The Great Fires. 

 Since the settlement of the island, up to 1832, — so 

 far as can be ascertained, — the losses by fire on Nan- 

 tucket had not exceeded $36,000. The largest fire 

 which had occurred was in 1769, when property to the 

 amount of $11,000 was destroyed. In 1836 an exten- 

 sive conflagration took place, but the compiler lias 

 been unable to ascertain the amount of loss on that 

 occasion. In 1838 a fire occurred entailing a loss of 



