n by Dimchurch, and with his fall
his men entirely lost heart. Some threw down their arms, and many of them
jumped overboard and swam ashore. A loud cheer burst from the sailors as
the resistance came to an end.

The fight was still raging on board the other ship, and the lieutenant
ordered the men of his own and another boat to row to it. Unseen by the
pirates they reached the bow and climbed on deck. Then as soon as all had
gained a footing they rushed aft. Here, too, the rear attack decided the
struggle; in five minutes all was over.

Daylight was now breaking, and they were able to see that there was a line
of storehouses on the islands together with a large number of huts. The
greater portion of the men were ordered to land, and the fugitives from
the ships were hunted down. Most of these had taken refuge in the battery
at the mouth of the harbour, but as this was open on the land side it was
soon stormed and the defenders all cut down. Then the huts were searched
and burnt and the storehouses opened.

These were found to contain an enormous quantity of goods, the spoil
evidently of many ships, and the men were at once set to work to transfer
it to the prizes, and when these were full, to the native craft. A boat
had been sent off, directly the fighting was over, with news to the
captain of the success they had gained, and in the morning another message
was sent saying that it would take four or five days to transfer the
stores to the ships, and the _Furious_ had in consequence hoisted anchor
and gone for a short cruise away from the dangerous proximity of the
sands.

On the afternoon of the third day a large cutter was seen approaching.
Lieutenant Farrance ordered the native craft to be towed behind a small
islet, where they were hidden from sight of a vessel entering the harbour,
and the crews to take their places on the captured vessels. When this was
done the guns were loaded and the men stood to their quarters. The
new-comer approached without apparently entertaining any suspicion that
anything unusual had happened, the huts that had been destroyed being
hidden by the groves of trees.

As she came abreast of them the guns were run out and the lieutenant
shouted: "I call upon you to surrender! These vessels are prizes of His
Majesty's frigate _Furious_, and if you don't surrender we will sink you
at once!"

There was a hoarse shout of fury and astonishment, and then the captain
called back: "We will neve