PORTER’S JOURNAL. 
9 
came to a small opening on the bank of a river, from the thicket 
on the opposite side of which we were assailed with a shower of 
stones, when lieutenant Downes received a blow which shattered 
the bone of his left leg, and he fell. VVe had left parties in ambush 
in our rear, which we had not been able to dislodge, and to trust 
liim to the Indians alone to take back was hazarding too much. I 
was fearful of weakening my force by sending a party to escort 
him, and to have returned back would have been construed by the 
allied tribes into a defeat. They had taken no active part, they sat 
as silent observers of our operations, the sides of the mountains 
Were still covered with them, and myself as well as the Taeehs 
had no slight grounds to doubt the fidelity of the Happahs; a de¬ 
feat would no doubt have sealed our destruction. I had come with 
a force very inadequate to reduce them to terms, as I had recieved 
wrong impressions as to the country through which we had to 
pass; but since we had come it was necessary something should 
be done to convince them of our superiority. The Indians began to 
leave us, all depended on our own exertions, and no time was to 
be lost in deliberation. I therefore directed Mr. Shaw with four 
men to escort lieutenant Downes to the beach; this with the party I 
had left for the protection of the boats reduced my number to twenty- 
four men. As we continued our march the number of our allies be¬ 
came reduced, and even the brave Mouina, the first to expose 
himself, began to hang back; while he kept in advance, he had, 
by the quickness of his sight, which was astonishing, put us on 
our guard as the stones and spears came, and enabled us to elude 
them, but now they came too thick even for him to withstand. 
We soon came to the place for fording the river; in the thick 
bushes of the opposite banks of which the Typees, who were 
here very numerous, made a bold stand, and showered on us their 
spears and other missiles; here our advance was for a few mi¬ 
nutes checked, the banks of the river remarkably steep, but par¬ 
ticularly on the side we were, which would render our retreat dif¬ 
ficult and dangerous in case of a repulse; the stream was rapid, 
the water deep, and the fording difficult and hazardous on account 
of the exposed situation we should be in while crossing. We en¬ 
deavoured in vain to clear the bushes of the opposite banks with 
our musketry. The stones and spears flew with augmented 
