a Sabbath morn--our service had far advanced; we could boast
of but a limited congregation, for many had died, some had fled from the
pestilence into the interior; others had avoided the place in
consequence of the threats of their countrymen. A few children, and two
or three women, were all their teacher had to address.

"We were engaged in singing a psalm, when a furious crowd, mad with
rage, as it seemed, screaming and yelling in the most frightful manner,
and brandishing their weapons as though about to attack an enemy, burst
into our little chapel, and seized my husband in the midst of his
devotions.

"I rushed forward to protect him from the numerous weapons that were
aimed at his life, but was dragged back by the hair of my head, and with
infuriate cries and gestures, that made them look like demons broke
loose from hell, they fell upon him with their clubs and spears.

"Reichardt made no resistance, he merely clasped his hands the more
firmly, and looked up to heaven the more devoutly, as he continued the
Psalm he had commenced before they entered. This did not delay his
fate.

"They beat out his brains so close to me, that I was covered with his
blood; and I believe I should have shared the same fate, had I not
fainted with terror at the horrible scene of which I was a forced
spectator.

"I learned afterwards that some powerful chief interfered, and I was
carried away more dead than alive; in which state I long remained. As
soon as I became sufficiently strong to be moved, I took advantage of a
whaler calling at the island, homeward bound, to beg a passage. The
captain heard my lamentable story, took me on board as soon as he could,
and showed a seaman's sympathy for my sufferings.

"I was to have returned to England with him, but off this place we
encountered a terrible storm, in which we were obliged to take to the
boats, as the only chance of saving our lives. What became of him I
know not, as the two boats parted company soon after leaving the wreck.
I trust he managed to reach the land in safety, and is now in his own
country, enjoying all the comforts that can make life covetable.

"What became of that part of the crew that brought me here in the other
boat, led by the fires you had lighted, I am in doubt. But I think on
quitting the island, crowded as their boat was, and in the state of its
crew, it was scarcely possible for them to have made the distant island
for which they steered."