TYE AND SUALIB. 243 
A very few men could have done us much mischief, had they been 
tolerable marksmen and stood their ground. 
To approach the village we had to pass between long lines of man- 
grove bushes, and 1 was assured by Whippy, who had been before 
on a war-party with a formidable force against these natives and been 
beaten off, that we should have something more than a mere show of 
resistance to encounter. Under this expectation we proceeded for- 
wards; but all was silent, and no impediment was offered to our course. 
When near the beach the boats were anchored, and the officers and 
men jumped overboard, and waded in about two feet water to the 
shore. Every thing was conducted with the most perfect order; the 
three divisions landed ; Captain Hudson, with two, proceeded to burn 
and destroy the town, and the third remained on the beach as a reserve 
to protect the boats, for I was apprehensive that an attack might be 
made on them by those on the other side of the bay, a great many of 
whom were visible, armed, and apparently ready for a fight. The pre- 
caution I had taken to let them know, through Whippy, that I held 
their chiefs as hostages, and that their safety depended upon the good 
conduct of the townspeople, I felt was some security, but I had made 
up my mind not to trust the natives in any way. I therefore kept a 
large force under my own charge to repel any attack on the boats, and 
act as a reserve should it become necessary. 
The town was soon fired, but the anxiety of some of the sailors to 
make a blaze, induced them to fire one or two of the thick thatched 
roofs to windward, while the rest of the party had gone to begin the 
work of destruction to leeward. The whole village was in conse- 
quence soon wrapped in sheets of flame, and many of the men were 
exposed to danger on their return, from the intense heat of the burning 
buildings. So close was the resemblance of the noise made by the 
bursting of the bamboo canes, (of which material the houses are for 
the most part built,) to a running fire of musketry, that every one be- 
lieved that a general fight was taking place in the parts distant and 
opposite to him. _ 
About an hour sufficed to reduce the whole to ashes, leaving the vil- 
lage a heap of smoking ruins. We then returned to our boats in the 
same good order in which we landed. 
The town of Tye contained about sixty dwellings, built of bamboo, 
besides a number of yam-houses, wherein they had gathered their crops. 
The upper and outer yams were well roasted, but the heat from the 
light material was of short duration, so that few in reality were lost. 
Another small collection of yam-houses, about a quarter of a mile dis- 
tant, was also burnt. 
