The whole crew, however, seemed springing from every direction, some from the hatchways, some from forward, and some from aft; and with the usual gesticulation of Chinese about to fight, commenced stripping themselves of their outer clothing, and uttering fierce crys and yells to encourage each other.
I had barely a moment to receive the explanation of the schooner's captain, who thrust a spare cutlass into my hand--that a mutiny had taken place, and having secured the ringleader he wished me to carry him down to Shanghae in irons--when the crew were upon us. Jumping and yelling like a legion of fiends let loose, they hurried towards us, brandishing the bamboo spears and the knives they had armed themselves with. For a moment we hesitated to fire upon them, but that moment's delay very nearly cost us our lives. Thinking they possessed no firearms, we believed we could awe them into submission with our revolvers. Suddenly one of them jumped forward and discharged two heavy horse pistols point blank at me and the captain of the schooner. The din of the report, the smoke, and our surprise, combined with an indefinite sort of feeling (upon my part at least) that we were half blown to pieces, caused a moment's inaction almost fatal to us. The whole of the crew, some eighteen or twenty, rushed forward. Fortunately the captain (who I imagined was the mate) of the vessel, being farthest away from the discharge of the pistols, was not in the least startled, but firing at the man who held them, brought him to the deck, and then discharging several shots amongst the crowd, gave me time to recover myself.
I did not feel wounded. My next perception was, that I was engaged with half a dozen men pushing fiercely at me with their spears. For some seconds I defended myself desperately with the cutlass, successfully warding all their thrusts, actually forgetful of the revolver I held in my left hand. I was soon reminded of its use by another man coming towards me, pointing a huge pistol like the first two that had so nearly finished me. This entirely recalled my presence of mind, and bringing my revolver into play, I had the satisfaction of seeing him fall in the smoke. At the same instant, however, the slight distraction had nearly proved successful to my spear assailants; one transfixed me, as I thought, though afterwards it appeared I was barely scratched, and the transfixing sensation was caused by the spear tightly pinning my clothes, while before I could parry it, another made a thrust full at my breast. With no time to sweep my cutlass round, I dropped it, and seized the spear-haft within an inch of my body, at the same time using my revolver and shooting the man. Before I could level at another enemy, the man whose spear was fast in my clothes abandoned it and closed with me. Over and over we rolled on the deck. I was unable to use my pistol, and he to use his knife. My left wrist was firmly grasped by his right hand, while my right hand was fully engaged restraining his left, armed with a large dagger.