almost like a thing of life. Within the prau were two dozen fighting men, armed
with their alligator hide buckler, long, steel-tipped spear, and ugly, snake-like
kris. A third prau followed in the wake of the other two, and all three were lost
in the blackness of the overhanging cliffs.
With as little noise as possible, I ran across the plain and warned my companion,
then picked my way silently down the defile to the camp. The captain responded
to my touch and was up in an instant. The men were awakened and the news
whispered from one to another. Gathering up what food and utensils we
possessed, we hurried to get on top of the plateau before our exact whereabouts
became known. The captain hoped that when they discovered we were well
fortified and there was no wreck to pillage, they would withdraw without giving
battle. They had landed on the opposite side of the island from our boat and
might leave it undisturbed. We felt reasonably safe in our fortress from attacks.
There were but two breaks in its precipitous sides, each a narrow defile filled
with loose boulders that could easily be detached and sent thundering down on
an assailant’s head. On the other hand, our shortness of food and water made us
singularly weak in case of siege. But we hoped for the best. Two men were
posted at each defile, and as nothing was heard for an hour, most of us fell
asleep.
IV
It was just dawn, when we were awakened by the report of two muskets and the
terrific crashing of a great boulder, followed by groans and yells. With one
accord we rushed to the head of the cañon. The Illanums, naked, with the
exception of party-colored sarongs around their waists, with their bucklers on
their left arms and their gleaming knives strapped to their right wrists, were
mounting on each other’s shoulders, forcing a way up the precipitous defile,
unmindful of the madly descending rocks that had crushed and maimed more
than one of their number. They were fine, powerful fellows, with a reddish
brown skin that shone like polished ebony. Their hair was shorn close to their