294 MALOLO. 



were the most incredulous before were now satisfied that they could 

 do this effectually. 



For about fifteen minutes an obstinate resistance was kept up with 

 musketry and arrows. In this the women and children were as 

 actively engaged as the men, and all made a prodigious clamour. 

 After the above time the noise diminished, the defence slackened, and 

 many were seen to make their escape from a gate which was inten- 

 tionally left unattacked, carrying the dead and wounded on their 

 backs. A rocket, of which several had already been tried without 

 visible effect, now struck one of the thatched roofs ; a native sprung 

 up to tear it off, but that moment was his last, and the roof immedi- 

 ately burst into flames. Upon this Lieutenant-Commandant Ring- 

 gold recalled several officers who were desirous of storming the town 

 through its small gate, an attempt, which even if successful, must 

 have been attended with loss of life on our part, and which the suc- 

 cess of the rocket practice rendered unnecessary. To force the gate 

 would have been a difficult operation, had it been defended with the 

 least pertinacity, for it was constructed in the manner of a fish- weir. 

 The natives, as has been seen, had, in addition to their arrows, clubs, 

 and spears, muskets; but the latter were so unskilfully handled as to 

 do little damage, for they, as I had before been informed was their 

 practice, put charges into them according to the size of the person they 

 intended to shoot at. They believe that it requires a larger load to 

 kill a large man than it does to kill a small one. The bows and 

 arrows were for the most part used by the women. 



The moment the flames were found to be spreading, a scene of 

 confusion ensued that baffles description. The shouts of men were 

 intermingled with the cries and shrieks of the women and children, 

 the roaring of the fire, the bursting of the bamboos, and an occasional 

 volley of musketry. 



The heat became so intense, that Lieutenant-Commandant Ring- 

 gold drew off the divisions to a cocoa-nut grove in the neighbourhood, 

 where he waited until the conflagration should have exhausted its fury. 

 After the lapse of an hour, the whole town was reduced to ashes, and a 

 few of the officers and men were able, although with difficulty, to enter 

 within its ditch. It was evident that large quantities of water and pro- 

 visions (pigs, &c.,) had been stored up, in the anticipation of a long 

 siege. Numerous clubs, spears, bows and arrows, with several mus- 

 kets, were picked up, together with fish-nets, tapa, &c, and the cap of 

 Lieutenant Underwood. Only four bodies were found, among whom 



