nd myself would give him a spell. The rain had beaten the swell
down, but the current was terribly strong, and when the mist lifted a
bit we saw we were still too close to the reef. After taking a cast of
the lead, and finding no bottom, Hannah and his two natives and myself
tumbled into the boat. We had just about tautened the tow-line when
Alan's voice rang out.

'Boat ahoy! Come back, quick, for God's sake! Here's the Frenchmen
coming!'

We backed alongside and jumped on board, just in time; for almost at the
same moment the Frenchmen's boat came up with a rush, and half a dozen
men sprang on to our decks and instantly closed with us. The rest would
have followed, but the ever-ready Mani began firing into their boat
with a Winchester. This kept them off. Had they, too, gained the deck we
should probably have lost the ship. The struggle on board was short but
sharp. Hannah, who was possessed of enormous strength, had seized the
first man who jumped over the rail round his waist, and slung him clean
across the deck against the port bulwarks, were he lay stunned; and then
went for the next man, whom he knocked backward into the boat with a
terrific blow. Meanwhile, Alan, two native sailors and myself, where
tied up in a knot with three others on the port side. It was so dark
that it was impossible to tell friend from foe at first; and one of our
hands, a Savage Islander, named Puniola, was just about to put a knife
into me, as he, two of the boarders and myself were struggling together,
when by chance he felt the big square buckle of my leather belt and
recognised me. He quickly let go of me, seized one of the convicts by
the throat, and choked him into insensibility, and we soon quietened one
of the other two by the same method. The third man, who was as wiry as
an eel and as strong as a horse, fought desperately, knocked two of
us down, and was then himself laid out by Hannah, who had come to our
assistance. Poor Alan, however, had fared badly; for the leader of the
gang had half-stunned him with a weapon of some sort, and we found him
lying across the cutter's tiller, bleeding profusely from a cut on the
head. His assailant, seeing that the attempt to capture the ship had
failed, jumped overboard and swam to his boat, which was drifting near
to us in the darkness.

As quickly as possible we got lights and examined the gentry lying about
on the deck. One of them was still unconscious, the rest were pretty
badly mau