412 



MASSACRE ISLANDS. 



1830. 



Antarctic, and gave up the ghost. The last survivor who left the 

 bloody scene saw them in this position ; firm friends in life — undi- 

 vided in death. The survivors continued to fight with desperation, 

 dealing around destruction on every side, until fourteen of their party, 

 out of twenty-one, were killed or missing. 



By this time, the whale-boat which I had despatched with Mr. John- 

 son and ten men, all well armed, had reached the edge of the shore. 

 The moment she came within musket-shot of the savages, the men 

 opened upon them a brisk and well-directed fire, which caused the 

 sable demons to fall back a short distance, and enabled our little band of 

 heroes, now reduced to seven in number, to make a timely and suc- 

 cessful retreat to the boat. Four of the seven were badly wounded, 

 and the other three nearly overcome with heat and excessive fatigue. 



The savages had now recovered from the panic produced by our 

 handful of bullets ; and seeing that the remainder of their prey was 

 likely to escape their bloody fangs, they made a desperate and deter- 

 mined rush upon our boat ; but before they could reach her, she was 

 in deep water. A part of them then saluted her with a shower of arrows, 

 while the main body flew to their canoes, and started in pursuit ; every 

 movement indicating a fixed determination to destroy the fugitives, or 

 perish in the attempt. 



As the boat was very much lumbered up, with seventeen men on 

 board, four of whom were badly wounded, it will naturally be expected 

 that her progress was slow ; consequently the canoes gained upon her 

 very fast. As soon as the savages had approached within musket-shot 

 of our boat, a well-directed fire was opened upon them from the latter ; 

 but the falling of their companions, instead of deterring these hell- 

 hounds from their purpose, only incited them to rush on with the 

 greater desperation. But the moment was now approaching when 

 their intense curiosity respecting those big hollow pieces of iron on the 

 Antarctic's deck was to be fully gratified. 



The pursuers gained so fast upon our boat, that I began to fear her 

 destruction would be inevitable. We brought the broadside of the 

 schooner to bear on the canoes, by means of springs on our cables ; 

 the guns were all loaded with grape and canister, and the moment 

 they came within distance, I waved to the officer of the boat to pull a 

 little towards the stern of the vessel, which brought all the canoes, 

 about twenty in number, clear from the range of the boat. At this 

 critical moment, the Antarctic opened her flaming battery, and des- 

 patched the messengers of death among the flotilla of canoes, two of 

 which were literally dashed into fragments. 



The unexpected report of the cannon, together with the unlooked-for 

 effect, struck terror into the hearts of the astonished enemy ; and it 

 appeared evident that these natives had never before witnessed such 

 serious effects from the combustion of gunpowder. The Antarctic now 

 kept up a steady fire for a few moments, which caused the canoes, or 

 such as still remained of them, to make a precipitate retreat to the 

 island. By this measure, and no other would have been available, 

 we saved the boat, the schooner, and nineteen valuable lives. 



Our boat soon came alongside, and the wounded were helped on 



