So Great Was Lander's Confidence In The Sincerity And Good Will Of The Natives, That He Could Not At First Believe That The Destructive Fire, By Which He Was Literally Surrounded, Was Any Thing More Than A Mode Of Salutation They Had Adopted In Honour Of His Arrival.

But the Kroomen who had leaped into the boat, and who fell wounded by his side, soon convinced him

Of his mistake, and plainly discovered to him the fearful nature of the peril into which he had fallen so unexpectedly, and the difficulty he would experience in extricating himself from it. Encouraging his comrades with his voice and gestures, Lander prepared to defend himself to the last, and a loud and simultaneous shout from his little party assured him that they shared his feelings, and would follow his example. Meanwhile, several of the savages having come out of their concealment, were brought down by the shots of the English, but Lander whilst stopping to pick up a cartridge from the bottom of the canoe, was struck near the hip by a musket ball. The shock made him stagger, but he did not fall, and he continued cheering on his men. Soon finding, however, his ammunition expended, himself seriously wounded, the courage of his Kroomen beginning to droop, and the firing of his assailants, instead of diminishing become more general than ever, he resolved to attempt getting into the smaller canoe, afloat at a short distance, as the only remaining chance of preserving a single life. For this purpose, abandoning their property, the survivors threw themselves into the stream, and with much difficulty, for the strength of the current was incredibly strong, most of them succeeded in accomplishing their object. No sooner was this observed by the men in ambush, than they started up and rushed out with wild and hideous yells; canoes that had been hidden behind the luxuriant foliage which overhung the river, were in an instant pushed out into the middle of the stream, and pursued the fugitives with surprising velocity; whilst numbers of people, with savage antics and furious gesticulations, ran and danced along the beach, uttering loud and startling cries. The Kroomen maintained on this occasion, the good reputation which their countrymen have deservedly acquired; their lives depended on their energy and skill, and they impelled their slender bark through the water with unrivalled swiftness. The pursuit was kept up for four hours, and poor Lander, without ammunition or any defensive weapon whatever, was exposed to the straggling fire, as well as the insulting mockery of his pursuers. One incident, which occurred in the flight, deserves to be recorded. A white man named T - - , completely overpowered by his fears, refused to fire on the savages, who were within a paddle's length of him, but stood up in the canoe, with a loaded musket in his hand, beseeching them by his gestures to take him prisoner, rather than deprive him of his life. While in the act of making this dastardly appeal, a musket ball from the enemy entered his mouth, and killed him on the spot.

Enter page number Go  Previous Next
Page 579 of 587
Words from 304934 to 305451 of 309561