One fellow, who evinced an obstinate determination to come alongside, was ordered off by the sentinel, who pointed his musket at him. As soon as the musket was pointed, he raised his spear, and stood in the attitude of throwing it until the sentinel came to a shoulder, when he again took to his paddle; the musket was again presented, and the Indian, with the same promptitude, raised his spear, until the sentinel, feeling the awkwardness of his situation, reported the circumstance to an officer. I went forward, and pointing at the native a pistol loaded with very fine shot, motioned for him to retire; upon which, he raised his spear at me, and I discharged the pistol at his legs, when he dropped his arms and fled with the greatest precipitation; I afterwards remarked him outside of all the rest of the canoes, apparently afraid to come nearer the vessel. After this example, none of them seemed disposed to question the authority of a sentinel. The islands we had seen, since our departure from the Marquesas, resembling each other so much, and none of them affording indications of water sufficient for our purposes, we began to think seriously, that we might experience great inconvenience, and perhaps suffering, before we could procure a supply; we determined, therefore, to let no opportunity escape us, of examining every island that came in our way, if it could be done without too much risk. With a view to this object, the captain pulled in shore, followed by nearly all the canoes; but when he arrived at the edge of the surf, which was so heavy as to make the landing difficult, he remarked that the people on shore, of whom a great many were assembled, had all armed themselves with spears and stones. This hostile appearance, together with the violence of the surf, made him hesitate about proceeding further, although the natives, on shore as well as those in canoes, pressed him to land. When, finally, he relinquished his object, and was about to return on board, the people on shore dashed into the water and swam off, and uniting with those in the canoes, made a violent attempt to drag the boat into the surf. The men promptly repelled them, when they dived to the bottom, and coming up, showered a volley of stones into the boat, which wounded a few of the crew slightly, and broke several pieces of the gunwale. In the midst of the excitement and confusion that prevailed, a native seized a pistol, which he struggled violently to carry off, until a musket was fired, and he was taken into the nearest canoe severely wounded; it had the effect to disperse the natives, who fled from the boat in every direction, as she returned to the schooner. When she was hoisted in, they came alongside, and some of them got on board. We commenced getting underway, and one of the anchors was already up; the other having hooked to a coral rock, the captain directed the sentinel forward, to give the musket to him, and repair to his station.