own resources.

CHAPTER XXV.

BURNED OUT OF HOUSE AND HOME.

We now called a council of war of all the Europeans settled here; and it
was unanimously resolved that we should protect and defend our houses and
property, and fortify our position in the best way we could. Captain Duke
had in his possession four twelve-pounders, and these we brought in front
of the enclosure in which our huts were situated, and were all entirely
employed in loading them with round and grape shot, and had made them all
ready for action, when, to our consternation and dismay, we found we had
a new and totally unexpected enemy to contend with. By some accident one
of our houses was in flames. Our situation was now perilous in the
extreme. The buildings, the work of English carpenters, were constructed
of dry rushes and well-seasoned wood, and this was one of a very
respectable size, and we had hoped, in a very few days, would be finished
fit for our removing into.

For some seconds we stood in mute amazement, not knowing to which point
to direct our energies. As the cry of "fire" was raised, groups of
natives came rushing from all directions upon our devoted settlement,
stripping off their clothes, and yelling in the most discordant pitch of
voice. I entered the house, and brought out one of my trunks, but on
attempting to return a second time I found it filled with naked savages,
tearing everything to pieces, and carrying away whatever they could lay
their hands upon. The fierce raging of the flames, the heat from the
fire, the yells of the men, and the shrill cries of the women, formed,
altogether, a horrible combination; added to all this was the
mortification of seeing all our property carried off in different
directions, without the least possibility of our preventing it. The tribe
of the Ngapuhis (who, when the fire began, were at the other end of the
beach) left their operations in that quarter and poured down upon us to
share in the general plunder. Never shall I forget the countenance of the
chief, as he rushed forward at the head of his destroying crew! He was
called "The Giant," and he was well worthy of the name, being the tallest
and largest man I had ever seen; he had an immense bushy black beard, and
grinned exultingly when he saw the work of destruction proceeding with
such rapidity, and kept shouting loudly to his party to excite them to
carry off all they could.

A cask containing seventy gallons of rum now caught