he gave one of the men a bunch of
red and yellow feathers, making signs that he should carry it to me. I
received it with expressions of amity, and immediately got some trinkets
to present him in return, but to my great surprise he had put off to a
little distance from the ship, and upon his throwing up the branch of a
cocoa-nut tree, there was an universal shout from all the canoes, which
at once moved towards the ship, and a shower of stones was poured into
her on every side. As an attack was now begun, in which our arms only
could render us superior to the multitude that assailed us, especially
as great part of the ship's company was in a sick and feeble condition,
I ordered the guard to fire; two of the quarter-deck guns, which I had
loaded with small shot, were also fired nearly at the same time, and the
Indians appeared to be thrown into some confusion: In a few minutes,
however, they renewed the attack, and all our people that were able to
come upon deck, having by this time got to their quarters, I ordered
them to fire the great guns, and to play some of them constantly at a
place on shore, where a great number of canoes were still taking in men,
and pushing off towards the ship with the utmost expedition. When the
great guns began to fire, there were not less than three hundred canoes
about the ship, having on board at least two thousand men; many
thousands were also upon the shore, and more canoes coming from every
quarter: The firing, however, soon drove away the canoes that were about
the ship, and put a stop to the coming off of others. As soon as I saw
some of them retreating, and the rest quiet, I ordered the firing to
cease, hoping that they were sufficiently convinced of our superiority,
not to renew the contest. In this, however, I was unhappily mistaken: A
great number of the canoes that had been dispersed, soon drew together
again, and lay some time on their paddles, looking at the ship from the
distance of about a quarter of a mile, and then suddenly hoisting white
streamers, pulled towards the ship's stern, and began again to throw
stones, with great force and dexterity, by the help of slings, from a
considerable distance: Each of these stones weighed about two pounds,
and many of them wounded the people on board, who would have suffered
much more, if an awning had not been spread over the whole deck to keep
out the sun, and the hammocks placed in the nettings. At the same time
several canoes, well m