HELP AT HAND. 621

but nine in all, and only five of them had fusils with them ; the rest
had indeed pistols and swords, but they were of small use to them.

We took up seven of our men, and with difficulty enough too,
three of them being very ill wounded. And that which was still
worse was, that while we stood in the boat to take our men in, we
were in as much danger as they were in on shore; for they poured
their arrows in upon us so thick, that we were fain to barricade
the side of the boat up with the benches, and two or three loose
boards, which, to our great satisfaction, we had by mere accident
or providence in the boat.

And yet, had it been daylight, they are, it seems, such exact
marksmen, that if they could have seen but the least part of any
of us, they would have been sure of us. We had, by the light of
the moon, a little sight of them, as they stood pelting us from the
shore with darts and arrows: and having got ready our fire-arms,
we gave them a volley, that we could hear by the cries of some of
them that we had wounded several. However, they stood thus in
battle array on the shore till break of day; which, we suppose, was
that they might see the better to take their aim at us.

In this condition we lay, and could not tell how to weigh our
anchor or set up our sail, because we must needs stand up in the
boat, and they were as sure to hit us as we were to hit a
bird in a tree with small shot. We made signals of distress to
the ship, which, though we rode a league off, yet my nephew, the
captain, hearing our firing, and by glasses perceiving the posture
we lay in, and that we fired towards the shore, pretty well under-
stood us; and weighing anchor with all speed, he stood as near
the shore as he durst with the ship, and then sent another boat
with ten hands in her to assist us. But we called to them not to
come too near, telling them what condition we were in. How-
ever, they stood in nearer to us; and one of the men taking the
end of a tow-line in his hand, and keeping our boat between him
and the enemy, so that they could not perfectly see him, swam on
board us, and made fast the line to the boat; upon which we
slipped our little cable, and leaving our anchor behind, they towed
us out of reach of the arrows, we all the while lying close behind
the barricado we had made.