elight, thinking, in all probability, of
the ease with which he had got possession of a fine trading-boat, and
calculating the cargo of slaves he had to sell, but little dreaming of
the hornets' nest into which he had fallen. Lieut. Hunt's round face
meeting the light of the rising moon, without a turban surmounting it,
was the first notice the pirate had of his mistake. He immediately
plunged overboard; and before Lieut. Hunt had sufficiently recovered
his astonishment to know whether he was dreaming or not, or to rouse
his crew up, a discharge from three or four cannon within a few yards,
and the cutting through the rigging by the various missiles with which
the guns were loaded, soon convinced him there was no mistake. It
was as well the men were still lying down when this discharge took
place, as not one of them was hurt; but on jumping to their legs,
they found themselves closely pressed by two large war-prahus,
one on each bow. To return the fire, cut the cable, man the oars,
and back astern to gain room, was the work of a minute; but now came
the tug of war; it was a case of life and death. Our men fought as
British sailors ought to do; quarter was not expected on either side;
and the quick and deadly aim of the marines prevented the pirates from
reloading their guns. The Illanun prahus are built with strong bulwarks
or barricades, grape-shot proof, across the fore part of the boat,
through which ports are formed for working the guns; these bulwarks
had to be cut away by round shot from the Jolly Bachelor before the
musketry could bear effectually. This done, the grape and canister
told with fearful execution. In the mean time, the prahus had been
pressing forward to board, while the Jolly Bachelor backed astern; but,
as soon as this service was achieved, our men dropped their oars, and,
seizing their muskets, dashed on: the work was sharp, but short, and
the slaughter great. While one pirate boat was sinking, and an effort
made to secure her, the other effected her escape by rounding the point
of rocks, where a third and larger prahu, hitherto unseen, came to her
assistance, and putting fresh hands on board, and taking her in tow,
succeeded in getting off, although chased by the Jolly Bachelor, after
setting fire to the crippled prize, which blew up and sunk before the
conquerors got back to the scene of action. While there, a man swam off
to them from the shore, who proved to be one of the captured slaves,
and h