our lads the moment that they were fairly within range, the latter
simply swarmed up the hill and carried the two batteries with a rush,
the pirates retreating by the rear as the _Terns_ clambered in through
the embrasures. The moment that the boats shoved off from the
schooner's side I saw that the spirit of emulation had seized upon the
two crews, for they both went away at a racing pace, and their actions
throughout were evidently inspired by this same spirit; the result of
which was that the two batteries were destroyed within five minutes of
each other, while the whole affair, from the moment when the boats
shoved off to the moment when they arrived alongside again, was
accomplished within an hour and a quarter, and that, too, without any
loss whatever on our side, or even a wound severe enough to disable the
recipient. The pirates were less fortunate, their loss in the two
batteries amounting to five killed, and at least seven wounded severely
enough to render them incapable of escaping. These seven were brought
on board by our lads, and secured below immediately upon their arrival.

Meanwhile I had not been idle, for while the boats were away I had
employed my time in making, with the aid of the telescope, a most
careful inspection of this piratical stronghold; and I was obliged to
admit to myself that it would be difficult to imagine--and still more
difficult to find--a spot more perfectly adapted in every way for its
purpose. The harbour itself was spacious enough to hold a fleet, and
almost completely land-locked, so that, once inside, a ship was
perfectly concealed; while the fact that the opening faced in a south-
westerly direction rendered it absolutely safe in all weathers. And, so
far as enemies were concerned, the two batteries at the harbour's mouth
were so admirably placed that they _ought_ to have proved amply
sufficient for the defence of the place; and no doubt they _would_ have
so proved in other hands, or had a proper lookout been kept. That they
had fallen so easily to us was the fault, not of Morillo, but of the man
whom he had left in command.

At the bottom of the bay or inlet--for it partook of the nature of the
latter rather than of the former--lay the settlement that Morillo had
established, consisting of no less than seventeen buildings. There was
also a small wharf, with a brig lying alongside it.

The moment that the boats arrived alongside I ordered the men out of
them, and