offered splendid cover for a defending
force while leaving attackers from the sea completely exposed. These
peculiarities of the shore rendered it morally certain that the beach
itself would be the actual battle-ground in the coming conflict; and it
was with the view to its decision there that I made my final
arrangements, and posted Bowata and his men. Having done this to my
satisfaction I took my rifle and advanced to the open beach, where I
seated myself upon a detached fragment of rock, and patiently awaited
developments.

These proved to be somewhat slow in arriving; and the period of waiting
was rendered all the more tedious from the fact that, low down on the
beach as I now was, the continuous veil of spray flying over the reef
effectually hid everything that might be happening to seaward; but at
length, after waiting for fully an hour for something to happen, one of
the Chinese boats appeared in the gap in the reef, closely followed by a
second and a third. The two leading boats were largish craft, pulling
eight oars each, and they appeared to be carrying some fourteen or
sixteen men each, while the third was the much smaller craft that had
already once entered the lagoon, the crew of which seemed now to be
augmented by three or four extra men. Once clear of the passage, they
formed in line abreast, the smaller boat between the two big ones, while
one man, doubtless the leader of the expedition, stood in the stern-
sheets, directing the movements of his little flotilla from time to time
by a wave of his hand.

The distance across the lagoon at this point, from the reef to the beach
of Eden, was about a mile; the boats were therefore not long in
traversing the distance. But I did not intend to allow our unwelcome
visitors to land without a protest of some sort, and at the same time
giving them something in the nature of a warning. I therefore waited
until the boats had arrived within about two hundred yards of the beach,
when, rising to my feet, I discharged my rifle, aiming to send the shot
a few yards above the head of the leader, who was still standing in the
stern-sheets of the smaller boat.

As though my rifle-shot had been a signal, the oarsmen of all three of
the boats instantly ceased rowing, and a tremendous jabbering arose
among them, which the leader silenced by raising his hand, at the same
time shouting what I took to be a sharp command. The oarsmen dipped
their starboard oars, sweeping th