boats full
of men, and ten war-canoes filled with natives, who kept up an
unearthly din with discordant conches. When the forces landed, the
friendly natives were seen to number at least five thousand men; while
of the Americans, thirty-five, under the command of Capt. Porter, were
considered enough for the work in hand. From the time the fighting
began, the friendly natives kept carefully in the rear, and seemed to
be only waiting to aid the victors, whether they should be Americans
or Typees.

Capt. Porter and his followers, upon landing, sat down upon the beach
for breakfast; but their repast was rudely disturbed by a shower of
stones from an ambuscade of Typees in the edge of the wood. Stopping
but a moment to finish their food, the jackies picked up their
cutlasses and muskets, and started for the enemy. They were soon in
the shady recesses of the tropical forest, but not a Typee was to be
seen. That the enemy was there, however, was amply attested by the
hail of stones that fell among the invaders, and the snapping of
slings that could be heard on all sides. This was a kind of fighting
to which the sailors were not accustomed; and for a moment they
wavered, but were cheered on by their brave leader, and, pushing
through the woods, came to a clearing on the banks of a narrow river.
But here a sad disaster befell them in the loss of Lieut. Downes,
whose ankle was broken by a stone. He was sent back to the ship, with
an escort of five men; and the party, thus reduced to twenty-nine,
forded the river, and scaled its high bank, cheering lustily, under a
heavy fire from the Typees, who made a dogged stand on the farther
shore. By this time, the last of their savage allies had disappeared.

The advance of the Americans was now checked by a jungle of such rank
underbrush that the cutlasses of the men made no impression upon it;
and they were forced to crawl forward on their hands and knees, under
a constant fire from the enemy. From this maze, they burst out upon a
clearing, and, looking about them, saw no sign of their savage foes,
who had suddenly vanished. The solution of this mystery was soon
discovered. After marching a few rods totally unmolested, a sudden
turn in the path brought the Americans in sight of a formidable stone
fortress, perched on a hill commanding the road, and flanked on either
side by dense jungles. The wall of the fortress was of stone, seven
feet high; and from it, and from the thickets on eit