lateen sail, which at once filled, when we gathered
headway and began to draw away from the shore, heading about south-west
out of the bay; and as soon as the sail was fully set and the halyards
belayed, Sails came aft and took the helm, while I gave the spare gun an
overhaul before loading it.

As we drew out from under the lee of the island and began to feel the
true breeze it became apparent that it was fast freshening up again, for
we could see the heads of the seas bursting into little patches of white
froth here and there, at which I was profoundly grateful; for I felt
that a fresh breeze, dead in their teeth, was likely to hamper the
progress of the savages quite as much as I could hope to do, and every
minute of delay now was worth a gold mine to us. And that the advance
of the savages was indeed being retarded by the rapidly freshening
breeze soon became apparent, for we were fully three miles offshore when
we at length made out the canoes, about two miles to leeward of us,
heading straight in for the island.

Running rapidly down toward them, we soon neared them sufficiently to
enable us to see that they were big, lumping craft, about sixty feet
long by six or seven feet beam, each canoe being manned by about fifty
savages, every mother's son of whom was wielding a short, broad-bladed
paddle as though his life depended upon it. Yet the canoes were not
making very much headway, for they were unwieldy--looking craft, with
long, high-peaked, overhanging bows, and sterns which seemed to catch
and hold a good deal of wind, making the paddling of them to windward,
especially against a heavy head sea, exceedingly hard work.

To do anything really effective with these craft, and especially to make
good shooting in the heavy sea that was running, it was necessary to get
to close quarters with them; I therefore directed Simpson to haul up two
or three points to the northward, my intention being to pass the
flotilla on their port beam, come to the wind as soon as we had passed
them, cross their sterns, raking them as we passed, and then follow
them, maintaining a steady fire all the way, and crowding them up to the
northward as much as possible, so that they might not land in South-west
Bay.

Our approach was greeted with yells of defiance from the crowded canoes,
many of the occupants of which dropped their paddles, sprang to their
feet, and hurled their long spears at us as we swept past them at a
distance of som