n a
most terrific struggle; for the brigantine seemed crowded with men. We
had evidently taken them all a little by surprise, by boarding on her
inshore side instead of that side which was presented to us upon
entering the cove. It was clear that, like the prize-crew of the
Indiaman in Pleher Bay, they had never expected us to think of pulling
round under her bows and stern, instead of dashing straight alongside;
but of course it was a very easy matter for the pirates to cross the
deck from one side to the other as soon as they discovered our
intention; and this they did, lining her bulwarks from her head-rails to
her taffrail, popping at us with muskets and pistols, thrusting at us
with pikes and cutlasses, and hacking at our hands and heads as we
endeavoured to climb her side and force our way over her bulwarks and in
on deck. But our lads were not to be daunted by any resistance, however
desperate. As we surged up alongside they dropped their oars, allowing
them to slide overboard and tow by the lanyards, and drawing pistol and
cutlass, leapt to their feet and, with a wild cheer, sprang on to the
boats' gunwales and thence to any foothold that they could find,
snapping their pistols in the faces of any who dared to show their heads
above the rail; while the marines thrust their bayonets through the open
ports into the legs of any individual who happened to be within their
reach, thus disconcerting the aim of many an otherwise deadly stroke.
For a few breathless seconds all was fire, smoke, and fury, pistols
cracking, steel rasping upon steel, cheers, execrations, groans, the
dull crunching sound of cutlasses sheering through muscle and bone, the
heavy fall of the stricken on deck, the scuffling of feet, and shouts of
defiance exchanged between the contending parties; then a few of us
contrived to get in on deck, forcing back the pirates and making room
for those who followed us, until all who were not too severely hurt to
climb the ship's side were inboard. There ensued a deadly hand-to-hand
fight in which quarter was neither asked for nor given. The pirates
seemed to number about three times as many as ourselves, and were a
truly desperate set of ruffians, fighting--as they well knew--with
halters round their necks, and doubtless preferring to die in the heat
of battle rather than perish ignominiously upon the scaffold.

For a few minutes we had all our work cut out to retain the slight
advantage that we had g