They stood in a circle, leaving the cover of the hatch clear.
He hurried down to witness the ceremony, and as he reached the waist, he saw Henshaw take up his position with folded arms in the very center of the hatch.

A moment later Kamasura was led up by Eric Borgson and Jan Van Roos.
The two mates, under the direction of Henshaw, lashed the Japanese face down upon the hatch, pulling his arms and legs taut with ropes that fastened to the bolts on all sides of the hatch cover.
When he was securely tied, Kamasura was stripped to the waist, and then Harrigan saw Borgson, grinning evilly, step up with a long whip in his hand.

It was a blacksnake, heavily loaded and stiff at the butt and tapering gradually to a slender, supple, snakelike body, with a thin, sinister lash.

Borgson whirled the whip around his head to get its balance.

Henshaw stepped back, still with folded arms.
"This fellow Kamasura," he announced to the crew, "has blown up the boats of the _Heron_.