other end of the beach. They proceeded
thither ; and first attacked and broke open the
house of a blacksmith, and carried off every
article it contained. They then marched to
the residence of an English captain (who was
in England), and plundered it of every thing
that could be taken away; and afterwards
sent us word they intended to return to our
end of the beach. Our fears were greatly
increased by finding that our friends were not
sufficiently strong to protect us from the superior
force of the Narpooes ; and our chief,
George, being himself (we supposed) conscious
of his inability, had left us to depend upon our
own resources.
We now called a council of war of all the
Europeans settled here ; and it was unanimously
resolved that we should protect and
defend our houses and property, and fortify
our position in the best way we could. Captain
Duke had in his possession four twelve-
pounders, and these we brought in front of
the enclosure in which our huts were situated;
and were all entirely employed in loading
them with round and grape shot, and had
made them all ready for action, when, to our
consternation and dismay, we found we had a
new and totally unexpected enemy to contend
with. By some accident one of our houses
was in flames. Our situation was now perilous
in the extreme. The buildings, the work
of English carpenters, were constructed of
dry rushes and well-seasoned wood; and this
was one of a very respectable size, and we had
hoped, in a very few days, would be finished
fit for our removing into.
For some seconds we stood in mute amazement,
not knowing to which point to direct
our energies. As the cry of “ fire” was
raised, groups of natives came rushing from
all directions upon our devoted settlement,
stripping off their clothes, and yelling in the
most discordant pitch of voice. I entered the
house, and brought out one of my trunks; but
on attempting to return a second time, I found
it filled with naked savages, tearing every
thing to pieces, and carrying away whatever
they could lay their hands upon. The fierce
raging of the flames, the heat from the fire,
the yells of the men, and the shrill cries of