Page:An account of the natives of the Tonga Islands.djvu/255

Rh fire conversing together, they threw several spears at them, which wounded many, and struck all with a panic: the whole garrison was instantly in a state of confusion; and a great number so far lost their presence of mind as to endeavour to make their escape on board the canoes; in this attempt, forgetting that it was low water, they leapt from off the banks, and fell upon the shelf of rocks below, in consequence of which several of them had broken arms and legs, and sundry contusions, which, together with the fright, producing universal spasm (tetanus ) in some of them, caused their death a day or two afterwards. In about a quarter of an hour the alarm perfectly subsided, and they passed the rest of the night quietly.

During the following day the fencing was completed, and a second ditch was planned round the former; this, however, was to be without any fencing, that the guns might be brought to bear more readily upon the enemy, in case they should make a descent upon Nëáfoo. This ditch was to be eighteen feet wide, and about ten deep. In three days it was dug, and the fortress completed. In the mean time the canoes were hauled up within the fencing, but no active operations were effected on either