1.767.
Auguft,
Friday 14.
was in tolerable health, caulked the bows, as far down as
he could come at the bottom ; and though he did not quite
flop the leak, he very much reduced it. In the afternoon a
frefh gale fet right into the bay, which made the fhip ride
with her ftern very near the fhore, and We obferved a great
number of the natives feulking among the trees upon the
beach, who probably expedted that the wind Would have
forced the fhip on fhore.
Saturday i;. The next morning, the weather being fine, we veered the
fhip clofe in fhore, with a fpring upon our cable, fo that we
brought our broadfide to bear upon the Watering-place, for
the protection o f the boat's ’that were to be employed there.
As there was reafon to fuppofe that the natives Whom we
had feen among the trees the night before, were not now
far diffant, I fired a couple o f fhot into the wood, before I
lent the waterers afhore; I alfo fent the Lieutenant in the
cutter, well manned arid armed, with the boat that carried
* them, arid ordered him and his people to keep on board,
and lie clofe to the beach to cover the warering-boat while
fhe was 'loading, and to keep difcharging mufquets into the
wood On each fide o f the party that were filling the Water.
Thefe orders were well executed, the beach was fteep, fo
that the boats could lie clofe to the people that were at work,
arid the Lieutenant from the cutter fired three or four vollies
Of fmall ariii's info the woods before any of the men went
on fhore, and none o f the natives appearing,-the waterers
landed and went to work. But riotwithftariding all thefe
precautions, before they had bee!n on fhore a quarter o f an
hour, a flight o f arrows was difcharged among them, one
of which dangeroufly wounded a man that was filling water
in the breaft, and another ftuck into a bareca on which Mr.
Pitcairn was fitting. The people on board the cutter imme-
5 diately
diately fired feveral vollies Of fmall arms into that part Of »767,
the wood from which the arrows came, and I recalled the ■ AT ft~ ■
boats that I might more eilcciually drive the Indians from ®4turiiay
their ambufcades with grape-fhot from the fhip’s guns-.
When the boats and people were on board, we began to fire,
and foon after faw about two hundred men rufh out o f the
woods, and run along the beach with the Utrnofl precipitation.
We judged the coaft to be now effectually cleared,
but in a little time we perceived that a great number had
got jogether on the welter molt point o f the bay, where they
probably thought themfelves beyond our reach: to convince
them therefore of the contrary, I ordered a gun to be
fired at them with round fhot ; the ball juft grazing the
water rofe again, and fell in the middle o f them, upon
which they difperfed with great hurry and confufion, and
we faw no more o f them. After this we watered without
any farther moieftation, but all the while our boats were on
fhore, we had the precaution to keep firing the fhip’s guns
into the wood on both fides of them, and the cutter which
lay clofe to the beach, as fhe did before,' kept up aconftant
fire of fmall arms in platoons at the fame time. As we faw
none o f the natives during all this firing, we fliould have
thought that none of them had ventured back into the wood,
if our people had not reported that they heard groans from
feveral parts o f it, like thofe o f dying men.
Hitherto, though I had been long ill o f an inflammatory
and bilious diforder, I had been able to keep the .deck; but
this evening, the fymptoms became fo much more threatening
that I could keep up no longer, and I was for fome time
afterwards confined to my bed. The Mafier was dying of
the wounds he received in his quarrel with the Indians, the
Lieutenant alfo was very ill, the' Gunner and thirty of my
men incapable of .duty, among whom were feven o f the
Z z a moft