One day our king expressed a strong desire to learn the use of the gun, and asked me to show him. Not liking the idea of it, being fearful we should not only lose the gun, but the reputation we then sustained from our success with it, I resolved to fix him so that he[146] would abandon the thought of it. I accordingly put in a powerful charge, and gave him the gun. He with great confidence brought it to his shoulder, and discharged it. So powerful was it that it threw him upon the ground with great force. He sprang to his feet, exclaiming in great rage—"Kekeno tehoury!" I assured him he did not hold it right, and then loaded it for myself and discharged it without harm. That served to convince him. He declared he would never touch the thing again, and did not during my stay there. The war having closed, left us without any particular way of spending our time, except getting our supply of fruits for living; this done, time passed heavily. Often we would retire to the groves or some secluded spot, where, shut out from the world as it were, we would sing some lively song, which would call to our minds most vividly the scenes of other days. Home, with all its allurements, would rush before us, and our untold grief could scarcely be borne. Suddenly some native would come upon us, perhaps when we were weeping, when we would feign that degree of contentedness which made them believe we were truly so. At length the cry of moco nui, a large ship, resounded through the valley. This we fancied was the time for our deliverance from this place. She stood abreast the harbor, taking in her light sails; the boats were lowered and came towards the shore; when within hailing distance they asked for permission to land. This the king, through me, granted. Returning to the ship, they stood into the harbor and came to anchor. The females swam to the ship, and, before the sails could be furled, the decks were literally full of them. [147] She proved to be the ship Pocahontas, Capt. Fisher, of Sag Harbor. The captain coming on shore, I acquainted him with our situation, and requested his interference in our behalf. He, with a great degree of indifference, offered to take us away if we would get the king's full consent; this he knew we could not do. I then asked him for clothing? His reply was: "I do not carry clothes around for such miserable fellows as you are;" and furthermore, he had none except those needed for the use of the ship's crew; yet he offered to sell me some, provided I would pay him in American currency. I could only offer him the usual commodity of the island—hogs, &c. These, he said, he could buy of the natives with a few scraps of old iron.