bor, and without further ceremony sent out four boat loads of men
towards the brig "Armstrong," evidently with hostile intention. Captain
Reid, realizing the futility of relying upon the protection of the
impotent Portuguese authorities, prepared for the worst, and, on
receiving a threatening response to a challenge which he addressed to
the approaching boats, he unhesitatingly opened fire. As his crew
consisted of only ninety men, his armament of eight nine-pounders, with
only the famous "Long Tom," a twenty-four pounder (which was exhibited
at the World's Fair at Chicago in 1893) as a gun of any consequence to
rely upon, while the enemy numbered over two thousand men and had a
combined armament of one hundred and thirty-six guns, the hardihood of
this initial proceeding will be apparent. After having suffered some
loss in killed and wounded, three of the enemy's boats beat a hasty
retreat, the fourth having been sunk, but about midnight the attack was
renewed by fourteen boats, loaded to the guards with at least four
hundred men. Captain Reid with his men fought like tigers, and "Long
Tom," under the command of William Copeland, mowed down the enemy
without giving them a chance to carry out their evident intention of
capturing the ship. The battle lasted only forty minutes, but during
this time two boats of the enemy had been captured and two sunk, and
nearly three hundred of their men either killed or wounded, while Reid
achieved a complete victory with the loss of only two men killed and
seven wounded. A third attack was made by the enemy soon after daybreak,
this time directly with the guns of the brig "Carnation," but "Long
Tom," with its twenty-four pound shots, did so much damage to the hull
of the enemy's ship that she was forced to withdraw, thus leaving the
victory for the third time with Captain Reid. Having so far succeeded in
warding off the enemy, Captain Reid thereupon, however, realizing the
futility of continuing to fight against such odds, left the brig, after
having scuttled and set her on fire, and reached the shore in safety.
There the inhabitants of the town did all in their power to care for the
wounded and protect the brave little band, who had barricaded themselves
in a small stone church; and a demand made by the British commander for
their surrender, on the ground that there were deserters among them,
proved futile, as the charge could not be established.

Subsequently the Portuguese Governmen