The Camden journal. [volume] (Camden, S.C.) 1866-1891, 1890-12-18

come. had double -barrelled shotgun;
and Thomas was to throw the shell if they
camc near enough. The shore was In
such darkness that we couldn't see what
cur enemies were UP to until the boat
was suddenly seen floating along our
port bow I fired into the black mass,
and Thomas lighted the fuse and heaved
the shell, but in his excitement he missed
the boat.
From the splashilg in the water / knew
that large numbers of the apes swan OF
had scarcely fired when three or four
appeared on the bows, and the next
moment they boarded from every quarter
Their screaming and chattering were
terrific, and we no sooner saw the first
half dozen aboard than we made rush
for the cabin. From that moment we
were besieged and by an enemy such as
never capsa-ed q sailing craft before.
The crew were willing euedisss to fight
now, realizing the danger. We were al
together in the little cabin and all armed,
but tho question was what to do. The
apes raced up and down the cks,pulled
at every rope and the number OF them
must have been full thousand. Their
racing about made the little schooner
tremble clear to her keel, and now and
then their weight lurchcd her from side
to side. The scuttle to the fo'castle was
secured, the matches all fast, and the
boards over the cabin skylight had beea
nailed. We heard them pulling and
hauling, however, and every moment was
an anxious one. They wrenched the
water butt loose and rolled it around on
deck, and six cages of parrots were broken
up IN no time and the birds killed.
1t was full hour before the apes
quieted down, aud from thence to day.
light we caught few winks of sleep as
we watched and waited. When day
broke and we could see through the
cabin side lights, the scene on deck was
one of desolation. Every running rope
had been pulled down, great holes had
been gnawed in the sails, and whatever
they could break up was broken. They
were still at it. Some of them were
even gnawing at the deck planks. 1t
was clear that if left uninterrupted they
would ruin the schooner above board, SO
we raised great shout to drawthsir at
tention. 1t succeeded to q charm. 1t
wasn't five minutes before they had
wrenched the boards off the skyhght.
The sash was heavy one and the panes
small, and even when they crowded upon
the sash to the number of fifty it bore
their weight. Holding my revolver
close to one of the panes, / fired three
shots, and thus cleared them off. From
the great chattering above we knew that
three of the gang had been killed or
badly hurt. They.tried it again in about
five minutes, and NOW we used both re-
volrers and peppered four or five more.
From that on they kept clear OF the sky
light, but we knew they were watching
the doors.
On each side of the companionway
was a pane Of glass over an opening four
inches wide by twelve wide. I smashed
out one and Thomas the other, and we
began shooting. The crowd made at US
seeming to be perfectly reckless, and
several were shot as they tugged at the
barrels Of our rifles. In half an hour we
had the decks covered with dead and
dying, and the beasts began to show
signs of being demoralized. An old gray
head, who had been concealed behind
the foremast, finally peered out and l
put bullet into his head. He fell over
with scream, and with that every ape
that ID move sprang overheard and
made for the shore. We waited awhile
before leaving our quarters, but reached
the deck to find they had departed for
good. There were forty-two dead apes
on the schooner, and we finished six who
were badly wounded. Our boat had
grounded on q smaller island half mile
away, and after we had recovered it We
got the chaps who mad been in the traps
so long. They exhibited the greatest
ferocity, but were handled the worse for
it, and we finally got them safe aboard.
Then we turned to on the schooner, and
and it took US two full days to get heI
in sailing shape. From the hour the
beasts left the craft we did not catch
sight of single one again during oul
s:ay.-MeoO York Sun.