ves at length
made their attack. They began by attempting to take Ascott's musket from
him, finding he was the most likely to annoy them; directly after which,
Mr. Carter, who was the foremost of the party, was heard to exclaim, 'My
God, my God, they have murdered me.' Ascott, who still retained his
musket, immediately fired, on which the natives left them and fled into
the bushes. Ascott now had time to look about him, and saw what he justly
deemed a horrid spectacle, Mr. Carter lying bleeding on the ground, and
Mr. Shaw with a large wound in his throat under the left jaw. They were
both however able to rise, and proceed down the hill to the boat. On
their arrival at the beach they called to their companions to fire; but,
to their extreme horror, they perceived Captain Hill and one of the
seamen lying dead on the sand, cut and mangled in a most barbarous
manner. Two others of the seamen they saw floating on the water, with
their throats cut from ear to ear. The fourth sailor they found dead in
the boat, mangled in the same shocking manner. With much difficulty these
unhappy people got into their boat, and, cutting her grapnel, pulled off
from this treacherous shore. While this was performing, they clearly saw
the natives, whom in their account they term voracious cannibals,
dragging the bodies of Captain Hill and the seamen from the beach toward
some large fires, which they supposed were prepared for the occasion,
yelling and howling at the same time most dismally.

These wretched survivors of their companions having seen, from the top of
the hill whither their ill-fated curiosity had led them, a large
sand-bank not far from the island, determined to run under the lee of it,
as they very reasonably hoped that boats would the next morning be sent
after them from the ship. They experienced very little rest or ease that
night, and when daylight appeared found they had drifted nearly out of
sight of the island, and to leeward of the sand-bank.

Deeming it in vain to attempt reaching the bank, after examining what was
left in the boat, (a few of the trifles which they had put into her to
buy the friendship of the natives, and Ascott's greatcoat, but neither a
compass nor a morsel of provisions,) they determined, by the advice of
Shaw, who of these three miserable people was the only one that
understood any thing of navigation, to run direct for Timor, for which
place the wind was then happily fair. To the westward, therefor