o the conclusion that my
bullet had fallen in the thick of a group, and wounded several.

"Why, captain, you are improving," observed my companion approvingly.
"If I could but manage to do the same, now--"

_Crack_! went his rifle, and the sound was followed by two distinct
cries--a scream and a howl--manifestly uttered by different voices, and
we thought we heard the sound of a heavy fall on the deck, but a sharp
peal of thunder at the same moment prevented our being sure of this.
While we were reloading they fired their brass gun once more, and again
the charge flew high overhead--luckily for us, for the bullets seemed to
be flying closer together this time. Then they began pelting at us with
their _gingals_, first treating us to quite a respectable fusillade, and
then blazing away, every man for himself, as fast as they could load and
fire; some of their bullets singing past us so closely that I inwardly
congratulated myself upon my wisdom in ordering everybody under cover.

And new, one after another, the remaining proas opened fire upon us with
their brass guns, although certainly not more than two of the entire
fleet were yet within range; while the vivid lightning flashed and tore
athwart the heavens in continuous coruscations, and the thunder crashed
and rattled and rolled and boomed overhead and all round the horizon in
such terrific detonations that they absolutely caused the ship to
perceptibly tremble and vibrate with the tremendous volume of sound.

At length the proa that had initiated the attack upon us closed to
within a hundred yards, steering for our port quarter, with the evident
intention of sheering alongside us somewhere about our mizzen-rigging.
They were working ten sweeps on board her--five of a side--and
calculating that each sweep required at least four men to handle it (for
they were very long and heavy), I concluded that she would have, all
told, at least sixty men on her deck, a formidable number to oppose with
our small force on board the barque. I was not much afraid of them so
long as we could keep a few fathoms of water between them and ourselves,
but should they once succeed in gaining a footing upon our decks, a very
few casualties on our side would suffice to determine the issue against
us.

It was, accordingly, to prevent this that I had set my wits to work in
conjunction with those of the mate, when we had first seen reason to
anticipate an attack, my plan being to utilise ou