only incited them to rush on with greater desperation. The moment was now approaching when their intense curiosity, respecting those big hollow pieces of iron on the vessel's deck, was to be fully gratified. The pursuers gained so fast upon the boat that Morrell began to fear her destruction would be inevitable. He brought the broadside of the schooner to bear on the canoes, by means of springs on the cables; the guns were all loaded with grape and canister, and the moment they came within distance, he waved to the officer of the boat to pull a little towards the stern of the vessel, which brought all the canoes, about twenty in number, clear from the range of the boat. At this critical moment, the "Antarctic" opened her flaming battery and despatched the messengers of death among the flotilla of canoes, two of which were dashed into fragments.
After this, Morrell and the shattered remnant of his crew prepared for departure, having given the islands the appropriate name of the Massacre Isles. His young wife who had accompanied him was fortunately saved. But the results of the voyage were disastrous. One half of his crew had perished in these encounters, and he had lost all the hopes of emolument for which the owners had fitted him out; but he had not only discovered new islands and new sources of traffic, but laid down with care rules for sailing with safety in his track, with remarks on the proper mode of intercourse with the untamed natives. Morrell shaped his course for the Manilla, where he reinforced his ship, borrowed a good sum to aid him in renewing his search for the precious biche de mer; and taking his wife on board returned once more, nothing daunted, to the
