Chapter 17

"Ho! strike the flag-staff deep, Sir Knight,--
Ho! scatter flowers, fair maids,--
Ho! gunners fire a loud salute--
Ho! gallants, draw your blades;--"

Macaulay.

So much time had passed in the execution of the plan of Unus, that the
canoes were close under the cliffs, when the governor and his party
reached the wood that fringed their summits, directly over the northern
end of their line. Even this extremity of their formation was a mile or
two to leeward of the cove, and all the craft, catamarans included, were
drifting still further south, under the influence of the current. So
long as this state of things continued, there was nothing for the
colonists to apprehend, since they knew landing at any other spot than
the cove was out of the question. The strictest orders had been given
for every one to keep concealed, a task that was by no means difficult,
the whole plain being environed with woods, and its elevation more than
a thousand feet above the sea. In short, nothing but a wanton exposure
of the person, could render it possible for one on the water to get a
glimpse of another on the heights above him.

The fleet of Waally presented an imposing sight. Not only were his
canoes large, and well filled with men, but they were garnished with the
usual embellishments of savage magnificence. Feathers and flags, and
symbols of war and power, were waving and floating over the prows of
most of them, while the warriors they contained were gay in their
trappings. It was apparent, however, to the members of the council, who
watched every movement of the fleet with the utmost vigilance, that
their foes were oppressed with doubts concerning the character of the
place they had ventured so far to visit. The smoke of the Volcano was
visible to them, beyond a doubt, and here was a wall of rock interposed
between them and the accomplishment of their desire to land. In this
last respect, Rancocus Island offered a shore very different from that
of Vulcan's Peak. The first; in addition to the long, low point so often
mentioned, had everywhere a beach of some sort or other; while, on the
last, the waves of the Pacific rose and fell as against a precipice,
marking their power merely by a slight discoloration of the iron-bound
coast. Those superstitious and ignorant beings naturally would connect
all these unusual circumstances with some supernatural agencies; and
Heaton early, gave it as his opinion that Waally, of whom he had some
personal knowledge, was hesitating, and doubtful of the course he ought
to pursue, on account of this feeling of superstition. When this opinion
was expressed, the governor suggested the expediency of firing one of
the carronades, under the supposition that the roar of the