The seventh musket was fired at him, and he fell also.
During this time the canoe dropped astern; and, the three others having joined her, they all gave chase to the cutter, trying to cut her off from the ship; in which they would probably have succeeded, had not the pinnace arrived at that juncture to her assistance.

The Indians then hoisted their sails and steered for Darnley Island." Flinders had watched the encounter from the deck of the Providence, and his seaman's word of admiration for the skill of the savages in the management of their canoes, is notable.

"No boats could have been manoeuvred better in working to windward, than were these canoes of the naked savages.

Had the four been able to reach the cutter, it is difficult to say whether the superiority of our arms would have been equal to the great difference of numbers, considering the ferocity of these people and the skill with which they seemed to manage their weapons." Five days later, between Dungeness and Warrior Islands, there was a livelier encounter.

A squadron of canoes attacked both ships in a daring and vigorous fashion.