ries and not help us, shot round the corner like a flash of
lightning, and, ere the pirates were aware of their presence, mixed in
the _melee_, cutlass in hand.

Though at first the sailors gained an instantaneous advantage, the
numbers against them were so great and the pirates so desperate, that
much blood must have been shed and a fierce battle fought, but another
boat appeared round the rock, most vigorously propelled, another, and
again another. Now we were saved, God be praised! No more doubts, no
more fears. We withdrew to a sheltered place on the cliffs, thankful,
oh, how thankful God alone can tell. The pirates fled in every
direction, but not before our captain, raising his gun, sent a shot
after the pirate king that put an end to his reign and his love for
ever.

CHAPTER XLV.

An officer was sent to take our wishes, while the other sailors, with
their captain and lieutenants, proceeded to pursue and exterminate the
pirates. The fresh boats' crews being so eager in the chase that they
knew nothing more about us than that some prisoners had been found. The
captain, therefore, politely sent an officer to attend to us, with a
message to say he was too busy to do so himself. We learnt from this
officer that our captain's conjecture was quite true about the pirate
vessel having been chased; and they knew well enough that, once seeing
them, Capt. Bute would scour the sea in search of them.

They made for "YR YNYS UNYG" as a last chance, knowing that few but
themselves were aware that the great Anaconda was dead, and they trusted
that the fear of it would prevent any one from landing on the island.

Their intentions were all frustrated by finding us all perched upon the
rock, and it became a matter of policy to get rid of us somehow. They
were unwilling to harm us at first, wishing to reap a golden harvest by
claiming the rewards for our recovery; but our obstinacy in refusing to
come down drove the pirate captain much beyond his own wishes. Had Capt.
Bute's boats been half an hour later there would have been but little of
our sad remains left. To his eagerness and skill in following the pirate
vessel, and anchoring the Turtle side of the island under cover of the
night, we, humanly speaking, owed our lives. May God be praised for all
his mercies.

Madame and Smart were first to be considered. It was agreed they must
both be taken on board the man-of-war for medical advice. I was to go
with them, and F