Mr. Phillips's Was, As Usual, Far From The Others, And At
The Opposite Side Of The Water.
Our fire place was made outside of the
trees, on the banks.
Brown had shot six Leptotarsis Eytoni, (whistling
ducks) and four teals, which gave us a good dinner; during which, the
principal topic of conversation was our probable distance from the sea
coast, as it was here that we first found broken sea shells, of the genus
Cytherea. After dinner, Messrs. Roper and Calvert retired to their tent,
and Mr. Gilbert, John, and Brown, were platting palm leaves to make a
hat, and I stood musing near their fire place, looking at their work, and
occasionally joining in their conversation. Mr. Gilbert was
congratulating himself upon having succeeded in learning to plat; and,
when he had nearly completed a yard, he retired with John to their tent.
This was about 7 o'clock; and I stretched myself upon the ground as
usual, at a little distance from the fire, and fell into a dose, from
which I was suddenly roused by a loud noise, and a call for help from
Calvert and Roper. Natives had suddenly attacked us. They had doubtless
watched our movements during the afternoon, and marked the position of
the different tents; and, as soon as it was dark, sneaked upon us, and
threw a shower of spears at the tents of Calvert, Roper, and Gilbert, and
a few at that of Phillips, and also one or two towards the fire.
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