nary anecdote concerning him after he received
this wound, which proves his great
presence of mind.
His party were retreating, and the enemy
were charging them vigorously; Shunghie
stood alone when he received the bullet: he
did not fall immediately, and the enemy were
eagerly running up to despatch him, when
he roused all his energies, and shouted aloud
for the two hundred chiefs, who lay concealed,
to rush forward and fall on. The foe,
hearing this, paused; when about a dozen
chiefs, and indeed, as Shunghie well knew, all
that he had, suddenly made their appearance.
This caused a panic j they turned about; the
pursued became the pursuers, and nearly the
whole tribe were destroyed.
He landed about a mile from the village,
and we lost no time in procuring an interpreter,
with whom we went instantly to pay
our respects to this celebrated conqueror.
We found him and his party ; his slaves, preparing
their morning repast. The scene altogether
was highly interesting. In a beautiful
bay, surrounded by high rocks and overhanging
trees; the chiefs sat in mute contemplation,
their arms piled up in regular order
on the beach. Shunghie, not only from his
high rank, (but in consequence of his wound
being taboo’d, or rendered holy,) sat apart
from the rest. Their richly ornamented war
canoes were drawn up on the strand; some of
the slaves were unlading stores, others were
kindling fires. To me it almost seemed to
realize some of the passages of Homer, where
he describes the wanderer Ulysses and his
gallant band of warriors. We approached
the chief, and paid our respects to him. He
received us kindly, and with a dignified composure,
as one accustomed to receive homas-e.
His look was emaciated ; but so mild was the
expression of his features, that he would have
been the last man I should have imagined
accustomed to scenes of bloodshed and
cruelty. But I soon remarked, that when he
became animated in convei’sation, his eyes
sparkled with fire, and their expression
changed, demonstrating that it only required
his passions to be roused, to exhibit him
under a very different aspect. His wife and
f