ed of them, but,
quickly rallying again, they were upon us.

We were ready for them. Our battery of twelve terrorite guns,
including the magazine guns and musketry, rang out a terrible
discharge. Under the withering fire and fearful explosions our foes
fell back, and the sea around was strewn with dead and wounded bodies.
Luckily for us, the only weapons possessed by the enemy were their
magnic spears. The wing-jackets, rallying again, swarmed upon the
rigging and covered the ship like a cloud of vultures. Ere we could
again discharge our guns, several of our men were beaten down by sheer
force of numbers. They made splendid use of their deadly spears. The
ship's crew, re-attacked between the discharges of the guns, were many
of them stunned and killed--the enemy after each discharge renewing
the attack, being constantly re-enforced from the fleet. It was
possible that we would be conquered by the fearful odds against us.

Our ability to keep up a fire from our guns grew more and more
difficult, owing to the incessant attacks of the enemy and the vast
accumulation of their dead bodies on deck. The spears of our foes were
more formidable weapons than we had supposed, for their touch was
death. It was evident, notwithstanding the carnage, that our men would
be obliged to surrender, owing to sheer exhaustion. As soon as a
wing-jacket dropped from the ranks of the enemy another took his
place; our guns covered the sea with their dead bodies. The admiral
was determined to conquer us at any cost, for he rightly surmised our
victory would be a terrible blow to Atvatabar.

To remove ourselves as far from the fleet as possible, I directed the
ship at full speed ahead for the outer water. The ten ships that lay
across the entrance to the harbor would have to be destroyed,
notwithstanding the ceaseless attack of the fletyemings, who followed
our every movement. We acted solely on the defensive, and managed,
while repelling the most furious onslaughts, to throw overboard the
dead bodies of the enemy.

In the midst of constant fighting we managed to get the terrorite guns
into position again, and when within a mile of the blockade fired the
entire battery into it. Our shells sank every vessel they struck and
broke several others from their moorings. Several more shots destroyed
the remaining vessels, but only leaving their crews like a swarm of
hornets free to attack us, This, however, was a minor matter compared
with possessin