424 Thirty Years 
and were preparing to follow us; but 1 desired Au- 
gustus to say that I would shoot the first man who 
came within range of our musket8, which prevented 
them. 
It was now about eight o’clock in the evening, and 
we had been engaged in this harassing contest for 
several hours, yet the only things of importance which 
they had carried off were the mess canteen and kettles, 
a tent, a bale containing blankets and shoes, one ot 
the men’s bags, and the jib-sails. The other articles 
they took could well be spared, and they would, in 
fact, have been distributed amongst them, had they 
remained quiet. The place to which the boats wero 
dragged is designated by the name of Pillage Point. 
I cannot sufficiently praise the fortitude and obedience 
of both the boats’ crews in abstaining from the use of 
their arms. In the first instance I had been influenc- 
ed by the desire of preventing unnecessary bloodshed, 
and afterwards, when the critical situation of my 
party might have well warranted me in employing 
more decided means for their defence, I still endeavor- 
ed to temporize, being convinced that as long as the 
boats lay aground, and we were beset by such num- 
bers, armed with long knives, bows, arrows, and 
spears, we could not use fire-arms to advantage. The 
howling of the women, and the clamor of the men, 
proved the high excitement to which they had wrought 
