ber allowed was exceeded, it is said by the connivance of
the convict sailors. Several of the prisoners had before been relieved
of their irons: among the rest, Swallow, the pirate captain; and when
the assault commenced, there were nine, and soon after sixteen engaged
in the fray. There were only two sentinels, and one other soldier
unarmed on deck. Lieut. Carew had left the vessel to fish, accompanied
by the surgeon, the mate, a soldier, and the prisoner Popjoy. A few
minutes after, he heard the firing of a musket, and hastened towards the
vessel; but when he reached her side she was taken. The struggle with
the sentinels seems to have been severe; and one of the soldiers below
fired a shot, which passed between the arm of Swallow and his side. The
mutineers compelled them to surrender by pouring down water into the
hold, and threatening to stifle them if resistance were prolonged: they
were also in danger of suffocation from their own gunpowder. Carew
implored the pirates to give up the vessel, and promised oblivion: when
attempting to board, they pointed several muskets at his breast. At
length he consented to go ashore, with the soldiers and thirteen
prisoners, who refused to share in the adventure; and, in all,
forty-five were landed at different points of the bay. The pirates gave
them one sheep, a few pieces of beef, thirty pounds of flour, and half a
bag of biscuit, with a small quantity of spirit and sugar; and at dawn
sailed from the coast. The refusal of a boat, cut off all immediate
communication with the port, and gave time for considerable progress.
The _Cyprus_ was without charts, but several of the mutineers were well
acquainted with navigation.

The sufferings of the party on shore were inexpressible: they
distributed one quarter of biscuit daily, and subsisted chiefly on
muscles, found for some time, until a spring-tide covered them. Morgan
and Popjoy set out the next day for Hobart, and attempted to cross a
river, with their garments tied on their backs: they were driven back by
the natives, and were obliged to return, having lost their clothes. Five
men started to head the Huon, and thus reach Hobart; and were saved from
starvation, only by the party sent down to meet them. Morgan and Popjoy,
under the direction of Carew, and encouraged by his lady, who displayed
extraordinary fortitude, constructed a coracle of wicker work, about
twelve feet long, formed of the wattle: they covered it with hammock