the defences to prevent surprise; some hundred rounds of ball cartridge had been made up and distributed to the men with the small arms: pikes, however, some of bamboo with the ends pointed and hardened in the fire, were the weapons of the majority. None had been exempted from their share of guard-duty, nor had the slightest want of inclination been manifested; in fact the wise arrangements and personal character of Captain Maxwell, while they had really given security, had inspired proportionate confidence; and it might safely be asserted that an attack from the Malays was rather wished for than feared.
“On the evening preceding our arrival, Captain Maxwell had addressed the men upon their actual situation, the dangers of which he did not endeavour to conceal, but at the same time he pointed out the best means of averting them, and inculcated the necessity of union, steadiness, and discipline. His address was received with three cheers, which were repeated by the party on guard over the boats, and every heart and hand felt nerved to ‘do or die[1].’ The appearance of the Ternate, however, prevented this desperate trial of their courage being made. We may attribute the precipitate retreat of the Malays to their habitual dread of a square-rigged vessel, and their not considering the actual circumstances of the case, which rendered the Ternate almost useless for the purposes of assisting the party on shore, the anchorage being too distant to allow of any effective co-operation.
“My expectations of the security of the position were more than realized when I ascended the hill; the defences were only pervious to a spear, and the entrances were of such difficult access, and so commanded, that many an assailant must have fallen before the object could be effected. Participation of privation, and equal distribution of comfort, had lightened the weight of suffering to all; and I found the universal sentiment to be an enthusiastic admiration of the temper, energy, and arrangements of Captain Maxwell. No man ever gained more in the estimation of his comrades by gallantry in action, than he had done by his conduct on this trying occasion: his look was confidence, and his orders were felt to be security.
“The next and part of the following day were employed in embarking the crew and remaining stores on board the Ternate. We sailed in the afternoon of the 7th, and reached Batavia on the evening of the 9th. The Princess Charlotte, from inferiority of sailing and other adverse circumstances, did not reach the Straits of Caspar till the 17th, and was then obliged to come-to at a much greater distance from the island than the Ternate had done.
“His Excellency and Captain Maxwell having deemed it adviseable to combine the conveyance of the embassy with that of the officers and crew of the Alceste to England, the ship Caesar was taken up for those purposes; and all the necessary arrangements being completed, we sailed from Batavia Roads on the morning of the 12th April, and anchored in Simon’s Bay, after a voyage of 45 days.”
- ↑ For Captain Maxwell’s speech, see “M‘Leod’s Voyage,” p. 255.
