92 
PORTER'S JOURNAL. 
people with stones, while quietly eating their breakfast; they as 
w r ell as the Taeehs and Happahs were all on their guard, but no 
hostilities.had been offered on our part, I had brought with me 
one of those whom I had intended to employ as ambassadors; he 
had intermarried with the Typees and was privileged to go among 
them; I furnished him with a white flag and sent him to inform 
the Typees that I had come to offer them peace, but was pre¬ 
pared for war; that I only required that they should submit to the 
same terms as those entered into by the other tribes, and that 
terms of friendship would be much more pleasing to me than any 
satisfaction which I expected to derive from chastising them. In 
a few minutes after the departure of my messenger he came run¬ 
ning back, the picture of terror, and informed me he had met in 
the bushes an ambuscade of Typees, who, regardless of his flag 
of truce, which he displayed to them, had driven him back with 
blows, and had threatened to put him to death if he again ven¬ 
tured among them; and in an instant afterwards we had a confir¬ 
mation of his statement in a shower of stones which came from 
the bushes, at the same moment one of them darted across the 
pathway and was shot through the leg, but was carried off by his 
friends. Hostilities had now commenced; lieutenant Downes had 
arrived with his men and I gave the order to march. Mouina, 
having forgot the difference which had taken place between us, 
placed himself, as usual, in advance; we entered the bushes, and 
were at every instant assailed by spears and stones, which came 
from different parties of the enemy in ambuscade. We could hear 
the snapping of the slings, the whistling of the stones, the spears 
came quivering by us, but we could not perceive from whom they 
came; no enemy was to be seen, not a whisper was to be heard 
among them. To remain still would have proved fatal to us; to 
have retreated would have convinced them of our fears and our 
incapacity to injure them; our only safety was in advancing and en¬ 
deavouring to clear the thicket, which I had been informed was of 
no great extent. 
We had advanced about a mile, and had received no injury, 
nor had we reason to believe we had done any to the enemy (who 
we could only get a glimpse of as they darted from tree to tree) 
although we had kept up a scattering fire on them; we at length 
