usketry fire upon us, besides giving them the advantage that the light
was at their backs, while it shone in the faces of our marines with such
dazzling effect that they were able to reply but ineffectively to the
fire with their own muskets.

The second lieutenant was first alongside, closely followed by Gowland,
the pinnace making a bad third and ranging up under the bows of the
brig, while the other boats attempted to board her in the waist. But
the brig--and the three schooners as well for that matter--was well
protected by boarding nettings triced up fore and aft, and as our men
made a dash at her they were met by pikes thrust at them out through the
ports, by the snapping of pistols in their faces, and the fierce lunge
of cutlasses through the meshes of the netting. Nevertheless they
persevered gallantly, hacking away at the netting with their cutlasses,
and occasionally delivering a thrust through it at any one who happened
to come within arm's-length of them. But it was clearly a losing game;
our losses had been so heavy during our attack upon the boom that we
were already far out-numbered by the crew of the brig alone, and they
possessed a further important advantage over us in that they fought upon
a spacious level deck, while our lads were obliged to cling to the
bulwarks as best they could with one hand while they wielded their
weapons with the other; moreover, the slavers were able to make a
tolerably effective use of their pikes and still keep beyond the reach
of our cutlasses.

"If it were not for that diabolical netting," thought I, "there would be
some chance for us still." And as we ranged laboriously up alongside,
my eye travelled up the face of the obstruction to its upper edge, and I
saw that it was suspended at four points only, two on the port and two
on the starboard side, in the wake of the main and foremasts.

"A sharp knife," thought I, "ought to divide each of those tricing-lines
at a single stroke, when down would go the net upon the defenders' heads
and hamper their movements long enough to give our people a chance."
And then I remembered that only a day or two before I had sharpened my
own stout clasp-knife--at that moment hung about my neck on a lanyard--
to almost a razor edge, and that consequently I had in my possession
just the weapon for the purpose.

As my meditations reached this point the gig touched the brig's side,
and whipping out my knife and opening it, I made one spri