ar sight of its course for about three
hundred yards, when Poore tripped over a fallen tree branch; I fell on
the top of him, and my face struck his upturned right foot with such
violence that the blood poured from my nose in a torrent, and for half a
minute I was stunned.

"Good God, look at that!" cried Poore, pointing down stream.

Crossing a shallow part of the creek were a party of sixty or seventy
savages, all armed with spears and clubs. Four of them who were leading
were carrying on poles from their shoulders the naked and headless
bodies of our two unfortunate sailors, and the decapitated heads were
in either hand of an enormously fat man, who from his many shell armlets
and other adornments was evidently the leader. So close were they--less
than fifty yards--that we easily recognised one of the bodies by its
light yellow skin as that of Anteru (Andrew), a native of Rotumah, and
one of the best men we had on the _Samana_.

Before I could stay his hand and point out the folly of it, Poore stood
up and shot the fat savage through the stomach, and I saw the blood
spurt from his side, as the heavy, flat-nosed bullet ploughed its
way clean through the man, who, still clutching the two heads in his
ensanguined hands, stood upright for a few seconds, and then fell with a
splash into the stream.

Yells of rage and astonishment came from the savages, as Poore, now wild
with fury, began to fire at them indiscriminately, until the magazine of
his rifle was emptied; but he was so excited that only two or three of
them were hit. Then his senses came back to him.

"Quick, into the creek, and over to the other side, or they'll cut us
off."

We clambered down the bank into the water, and then, by some mischance,
Poore, who was a bad swimmer, dropped his rifle, and began uttering the
most fearful oaths, when I told him that it was no use my trying to dive
for it, unless he could hold my shot gun, which I was carrying in my
left hand. We had scarcely reached the opposite bank, when thin, slender
spears began to whizz about us, and one, no thicker than a lead pencil,
caught Poore in the cheek, obliquely, and its point came out quite a
yard from where it had entered, and literally pinned him to the ground.

I have heard some very strong language in the South Seas, but I have
never heard anything so awful as that of Poore when I drew out the
spear, and we started to run for our lives down the opposite bank of the
creek.