Chap. XVIII. 
PIRATES BEAT OFF. 
303 
hands. Their fearful yells seem to be ringing in my ears 
even now, after this lapse of time, and when I am on the 
other side of the globe. 
The nearest junk was now within thirty yards of ours ; 
their guns were now loaded, and I knew that the next 
discharge would completely rake our decks. "Now," 
said I to our helmsmen, " keep your eye fixed on me, and 
the moment you see me fall flat on the deck you 
must do the same, or you will be shot.'' I knew that 
the pirate, who was now on our stern, could not bring 
his guns to bear upon us without putting his helm down 
and bringing his gangway at right angles with our stem, 
as his guns were fired from the gangway. I therefore 
kept a sharp eye upon his helmsman, and the moment I 
saw him putting the helm down I ordered our steersmen to 
fall flat on their faces behind some wood, and at the same 
moment did so myself We had scarcely done so when 
bang, bang, went their guns, and the shot came whizzing 
close over us, splintering the wood about us in all 
directions. Fortunately, none of us were struck. " Now, 
mandarin, now, they are quite close enough,'' cried out 
my companions, who did not wish to have another 
broadside like the last. I, being of the same opinion, 
raised myself above the high stern of our junk ; and 
while the pirates were not more than twenty yards from 
us, hooting and yelling, I returned their fire, with shot 
and ball from my double-barrelled gun. 
Had a thunderbolt fallen amongst them they could 
not have been more surprised ; doubtless many were 
wounded, and probably some killed. At all events, the 
whole of the crew, not fewer than forty or fifty men, who 
