The aspect of affairs was serious. It was now evident that no fear of what might befall his imprisoned household would deter the quibian from his bloody purpose. Alive or dead might be his brothers, wives, and children, he would rid his country of these perfidious strangers. To this end he secured the coöperation of the neighboring chieftains, and filled the forest with his warriors. Stealthily they lurked in the vicinity of the settlement, and watched every pathway, ready to cut off any who should venture abroad. Nowhere on the Islands had the Spaniards met such stubborn opposition, and serious misgivings filled their minds. Their own probable doom they saw foreshadowed in the mutilated bodies of Tristan and his men, which came floating past them down the stream, attended by ravenous fishes; and the requiems sung by quarrelling vultures over the remains when afterward they were thrown back by the waves upon the beach, tended in no wise to lessen their dismal forebodings. To heighten their misfortunes, a furious storm arose, which cut off all communication between the settlement and the ships. The adelantado endeavored in vain to quiet the fears of his people, who emboldened by despair would have seized the remaining caravel and put to sea had the weather permitted. Yet closer pressed upon them the enraged quibian, until dislodged they retreated to the river bank, before their caravel, and threw up earthworks, which they capped with the ship's boat, and behind which they planted their guns, and so kept the savages at bay. On shipboard matters were no better. The continued absence of Tristan and his crew caused the admiral great anxiety. In such a heavy sea it was unsafe to remain near the shore; the parting of a cable would doom the clumsy craft to swift destruction. And as if this were not enough, the spirit of the quibian broke out among his encaged family. Preferring death to captivity they plotted escape. During the night the prisoners were confined in the forecastle, and on the covering slept a guard of soldiers. Collecting one night such articles as were within reach, stones used as ballast, boxes, and provision casks, they piled them up under the hatchway cover. Toward morning, when the guards were sleeping soundly, as many of the captives as were able mounted the heap, and placing their shoulders to the covering, by quick concerted action burst it open, throwing the sleeping sentinels in every direction, and springing out leaped into the sea. Those whose escape was prevented were found next morning dead, some hanging to the roof and sides of their prison, some strangled by means of strings round the neck drawn tight with the foot. [Sidenote: THE SETTLEMENT ABANDONED.]