Those of the fellows to
windward, however, did not seem disposed to give it up, but followed
us for two hours, by which time the rest of their flotilla were hull
down. Believing there was now plenty of room, I tacked towards these
persevering gentry, when they went about like tops, and hauled off
sharp on a wind. We tacked once more to our course, and were followed
no further.
The captain of a pepper ship afterwards told me, that our assailants
lost forty-seven men, mostly killed, or died of their hurts, and that
he had understood that the same officer commanded the Crisis that had
commanded the "John," in _her_ affair, near the same spot. We had
some rigging cut, a few of our spars slightly injured, and two men
hurt, one of whom happened to be Neb. The man most hurt died before we
reached the Cape, but more from the want of surgical assistance, than
from the original character of his wound. As for Neb, he went to duty
before we reached St. Helena. For my part, I was surprised one of the
proas did not get down his throat, his grin being wide enough, during
the whole affair, to admit of the passage of a two-decker.
We went into the island, as had been agreed, but no ship offering and
none being expected soon, it became necessary for my passengers to
continue on with us to New York.
Pages:
501
502
503
504
505
506
507
508
509
510
511
512
513
514
515
516
517
518
519
520
521
522
523
524
525