some silver plate. The women, who were the officers' and traders' wives,
were fearfully terrified; all but Lalia, who was a fine, courageous
girl. Taking a cutlass from the rack in the cabin she stood over them;
and, cursing freely in French, English, Spanish and whalers' language,
threatened to murder every one of them if they did not hurry. We got the
first box of arms safely up the companion, and Hayes saw it lowered into
one of the traders' whale-boats, which was standing by under the stern.
Then, as a tremendous crashing sea came over the waist, all the women
but Lalia bolted and left us alone. Lalia laughed.

'That's the long-boat gone, sir; and all those Pleasant Islands women
are drown, I hope--the damned savage beasts, I hate them.'

* The _Leonora_ carried four guns.

I learnt afterwards that the crash was caused by the two guns on the
starboard side taking a run to port, and carrying away the port ones
with them over the side through the bulwarks.{*} The long-boat was
washed overboard by the same sea, but half a dozen of our Rotumah Island
sailors had jumped overboard after her, and, using canoe paddles, saved
her from being dashed on the reef. She was soon brought alongside, fully
manned, and awaiting Hayes's orders.

The captain now called to me to stand by to take charge of her, when a
second fearful sea came over the waist, and fairly buried the ship,
and Hung, the Chinese carpenter and myself were only saved from going
overboard, by being entangled in the falls of one of the quarter-boats.
As for the long-boat, it was swept away out of sight, but succeeded in
reaching the shore safely, with the loss of one man.

By this time the seas were breaking over the brig with terrible force,
and when they came over the bows they swept her flush decks like a
torrent. Presently she gave such a terrible roll to port that we thought
she was going over altogether, and the third mate reported that six
four-hundred-gallon water tanks, which were stored in the 'tween
decks amidships, had gone adrift to the port side. Then Hayes told the
carpenter to cut away the masts. A few slashes at the rigging, and a
couple of snicks at the spars themselves, sent the sticks over the side
quick enough; the brig stood up again and rode easier.

Meanwhile, the boat of one of the traders named Terry--an old
ex-man-of-war's man--had come off, manned by half a dozen of his
stalwart half-caste sons, and although it was still pitch