in order that he might
gratify the unnatural lust that caused him to revel in the sight of
human suffering. Therefore, after the first qualm of reluctance, I felt
no compunction in ordering the gunners to ply their weapons upon the
advancing enemy with all the skill at their command. And right
willingly did the men obey my order, sponging, loading, priming,
pointing, and firing with the fell determination of men who knew that
they must slay or themselves be slain; aiming so carefully that every
shot was made to tell with disastrous effect; so that the advancing
boats gradually fell into confusion as shot after shot whistled through
them, sinking a boat here, shattering another there, and killing or
maiming so many of her crew that she could neither advance farther nor
retire, but lay upon the water a mere drifting, blood-bespattered wreck.
Had the distance between the beach and the islet been half as far again
as it actually was, there can be no doubt that the entire expedition
would have been swept out of existence; as it was, nine out of the
twenty boats which left the settlement survived to reach the islet, and
were grounded upon the beach just below the battery. As the keels
grated in upon the shingle their crews sprang out, dragged the boats
well up, so that they would not go adrift, and then, sinking upon one
knee, emptied their muskets at us, to cover the landing of their
comrades; we, on our part, holding our fire in readiness to meet the
rush upon the battery that was now imminent.

Here Fernandez, still unwounded, exhibited the only bit of sound
generalship that had distinguished the attack; for instead of allowing
his men to charge up the slope promiscuously as they landed, to be cut
down or bowled over by our pistols, in detail, he ordered them to form
up, in single file and open order, until the last boat had arrived,
probably guessing that we were without muskets, and knowing that he and
his men were for the moment beyond pistol-shot. Then, after allowing
them time to recharge their muskets, and a minute or two additional in
which to recover their breath and prepare for the desperate up-hill rush
at the battery, he gave the word to advance, himself leading the way,
while we, with naked cutlass in one hand and pistol in the other,
crouched behind our low breastwork, watching the toiling figures
scrambling and struggling up the steep, almost precipitous slope.

They had advanced about half-way, and Fern